TAIYUAN - The government of North China's Shanxi province and Tsinghua University have agreed to establish a research center that will work to reinvent Shanxi's struggling coal industry.

Once the backbone of the local economy, coal mines and processors in Shanxi lost more than 4 billion yuan ($644 million) in the first half of 2015 as government curbs on the polluting sector took their toll.

The research center will focus on research and development of clean coal and other low-carbon energy. It will also provide technology consulting services, according to the agreement.

Wang Rulin, Shanxi's Party chief, said the center will make best use of Tsinghua's technology and talent in a partnership that will "set a good example for other places in terms of clean coal usage."

The Shanxi government has limited coal production in recent years in the hope of shaking off the economic mode of relying heavily on coal resources. The provincial government is approving no new coal mines for the next five years to tackle overcapacity.