China's basic coal reserves total 334.2 billion tons, mainly distributed in northeast China and north China, with Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Shanxi Province and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region heading the field.

The reserves of the major mineral resources, such as coal, iron, copper, aluminum, stibium, molybdenum, managese, tin, lead, zinc and mercury, are in the world's front rank.

The country also abounds in petroleum, natural gas, oil shale, phosphorus and sulphur. Petroleum reserves are mainly found in the northwest, northeast and north China, as well as in the continental shelves of east China. The national reserves of rare earth metals far exceed the combined total for the rest of the world.