BEIJING — China's raw coal output registered stable growth in 2019, while its imports remained robust, official data showed.

The country produced 3.75 billion metric tons of raw coal last year, up 4.2 percent year-on-year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

Around 330 million tons of raw coal was produced in December 2019, up 2.4 percent year-on-year, NBS data showed.

The country imported 300 million tons of coal in 2019, up 6.3 percent year-on-year. In December, coal imports declined 72.9 percent year-on-year.

Coal prices dipped, with the transaction price of Qinhuangdao 5,500 kcal/kg thermal coal standing at 549 yuan (about $80) per ton on Dec 27, down eight yuan from Nov 29, the data showed.