XINING - A total of 2.1 million tons of overcapacity has been cut in the coal sector in Northwest China's Qinghai province over the past three years, local authorities have said.

Hosting the headwaters of the Yellow River, the Yangtze River and the Lancang (Mekong) River, Qinghai has been under pressure to cut overcapacity in the coal sector and seek a greener economy.

In 2016, the Qinghai province cut 90,000 tons of overcapacity in the coal sector, and the number rose to 1.32 million tons in 2017, according to an industry office tasked with cutting overcapacity.

Since the beginning of 2018, local authorities have shut down 10 coal mines and cut 690,000 tons of overcapacity, it said.

China plans to cut 30 million tons of ineffective steel capacity and 150 million tons of coal capacity in 2018, according to a government work report released earlier this year.