WASHINGTON - Clean coal utilization will serve as "an urgently needed means" for China to balance development and environmental sustainability, said a Chinese organization in a report issued here Wednesday.

In the report, China Energy Fund Committee (CEFC), a non- governmental and non-profit organization based in China's Hong Kong, also predicted that it is possible that the country would lead the world in clean coal utilization, given China's heavy dependence on coal and the strong will to cut emissions.

Coal has provided sufficient and affordable energy for China's fast economic growth in more than three decades of the past and will continue to play an important role in the country's development in the years to come, said the organization.

Coal accounted for more than 65 percent of China's primary energy consumption by 2013. China has planned to reduce the ratio to 62 percent by 2020, according to the National Energy Development Strategy Action Plan (2014-2020) released by the State Council, China's Cabinet, in November 2014.

"The Chinese government has pledged to be a responsible international player in climate mitigation," said the organization in the report, "Clean coal utilization will be both necessary and pressing option for China's future energy development."