The 2021 national coal fair will be held in Taiyuan city, Shanxi province from Dec 8 to Dec 10, according to China National Coal Association.

Zhang Hong, spokesperson of the association, said on Tuesday that the fair, under direction from the association, will for the first time be organized by an enterprise, Jinneng Holding Group, the country's second-largest coal producer newly created after a merger of several coal companies in Shanxi province, China's coal hub.

Yang Xianfeng, head of the fair's co-organizer China Coal Transportation & Distribution Association, said the fair will feature a series of activities for coal industry players as well as those from upstream and downstream industries to discuss key issues related to coal production, transportation and demand.

There will also be updates of regulatory information from government officials, Yang said.

Feng Yu, president of the coal market information provider CCTD.com, said the fair aims to contribute to the stable operation of the coal industry through bridging production, distribution and demand, and deals to be signed at the fair are expected to exceed 1 billion metric tons.

Gao Fa, deputy head of China Taiyuan Coal Transaction Center, said the opening ceremony of the fair, to be held on Dec 8 under strict COVID-19 prevention measures, is designed to have no more than 980 attendees.