China's coal consumption declined for the third straight year in 2016, making the world's leading carbon polluter an emerging global leader in combating climate change.

The country's coal consumption, which is a major source of heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions, declined by 4.7 percent last year, according to preliminary data from China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

China is running out of breath Smog alarm in Beijing Thick smog hovers over Beijing's Tiananmen Square as seen in this picture. Even the gigantic portrait of the country's founder Mao Zedong is covered by fog. Experts say that people living in the cities breathe in harmful gases.

China is running out of breath Exceeding the limits In Beijing alone, there are more than 5.4 million registered vehicles, whereas in Shanghai there are about 2.7 million cars. The increase in traffic over the years has been blamed for the poor air quality. According to statistics provided by Greenpeace, more than 90 of China's 190 major cities exceed the limits set by by the authorities.

China is running out of breath Indoor training These students perform their morning exercises in the school's hallway. The authorities recommend both young and elderly people not to train outside, as this might seriously damage their health.

China is running out of breath Running with gas mask Anyone in China who wants to indulge in some physical activity must be creative. This runner wears a gas mask while jogging in the Chinese capital's Olympic Park.

China is running out of breath Old industrial sites The old power plants and cement factories in northern China emit pollutants that compound the problem. Seven of China's ten most polluted cities are located in Hebei province. In a trip to China in April 2014, Germany's Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier campaigned for the use of environment-friendly technologies.

China is running out of breath Raising awareness Chinese film director Jia Zhangke made a short film about air pollution in China in 2013. Designed to raise awareness, the movie depicts how Chinese people deal with smog on a daily basis. Jia's father died from lung cancer nine years ago in the coal-rich Shanxi province.

China is running out of breath 'I thought I was blind' "When I woke up this morning and opened the window I thought I was blind," wrote a Chinese citizen on Weibo, the Chinese micro-blogging website, "but then I realized it was smog."

China is running out of breath 'APEC Blue' The authorities managed to bring down pollution levels in Beijing before the APEC Summit in November 2014, as seen in this picture of the conference venue. The officials shut down construction sites and factories in the area, and traffic was artificially reduced. Many in China dubbed the summit "APEC Blue" for its environmental success. Author: Ying Yang/shs



The share of coal in China's total energy mix declined to 62 percent - from 64 percent a year earlier, according to the NBS.

China is the world's biggest consumer of coal but its consumption levels have dropped as economic growth has slowed to its lowest level since 1990. With its major cities gripped by choking air pollution, China wants to reduce coal usage in favor of natural gas and renewable energy including hydro, wind and solar power.

Solar capacity grew 81.6 per cent and wind capacity grew 13.2 per cent compared to 2015.

In January the National Energy Administration (NEA) ordered the cancellation of about 100 coal-fired power plants planned across the country - even though construction had already begun on some of them.

Greenpeace analysis

Greenpeace said an analysis of data from the NEA showed a "significant drop" in China's CO2 emissions of 1 percent. The decline "reinforces China's growing status as a global climate leader, and sends a strong signal to US President Trump that his dirty energy agenda will send the American economy in the wrong direction," Greenpeace said.

Solar power station in Jiangsu, China

Lauri Myllyvirta, senior coal campaigner for Greenpeace, said China's stable and falling carbon emissions have "completely revolutionized the prospects for bringing global emissions and bringing climate change under control."

"The two reasons why global emissions have been stable for the past three years are no growth in China and rapid fall in emissions in the US, so that really shows what can be accomplished when these two countries work together," Myllyvirta said.

China's tackling of climate change in collaboration with the United States under President Barack Obama was touted by both sides as a bright spot in otherwise tense relations.

The two countries joined last year to endorse the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change. But that limited partnership has grown uncertain under new US President Donald Trump.

He has called climate change a Chinese hoax and pledged to reverse Obama's efforts to curb emissions from coal-fired power plants.

Currently the world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide, China has committed through the international Paris Agreement on climate change to reduce carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by at least 60 per cent from the 2005 level by 2030.

bik/jm (AP, dpa)