When the day is done, China will not be able to limit its consumption of coal...they are industrializing too fast to try something like that. You’ve got to remember that many of the current coal fired power plants were built without the government’s approval (regional provinces authorized them). The same thing will happen if the government tries to limit coal consumption. China will simply import more coal from Australia and Indonesia.
http://www.post-gazette.com/healthscience/20030215coalenviro4p4.asp
The Chinese fires also make a big, hidden contribution to global warming through the greenhouse effect, scientists said. Each year they release 360 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, as much as all the cars and light trucks in the United States.