China Shenhua EnergyCo. Ltd. is considering significantly increasing coal exports amid decliningdomestic coal demand and tighter environmental regulations, Bloomberg News reportedMarch 29.

The company may export between 5 million and 10 million tonsof thermal coal in 2016 to South Korea and Japan, Vice Chairman Ling Wen said. Itshipped 1.2 million tons in 2015.

"We will consider exporting more coal as demand growth inour home market stalls," Ling told Bloomberg on the sidelines of a Hong Kongpreference.

China Shenhua Energy is also looking to enter the nuclear powerfield and expand noncoal cargo over railways as ways to generate profit.

"Because of the saturation of the Chinese market, any coalexport is good for Shenhua," Argonaut Securities analyst Helen Lau told Bloombergfrom Hong Kong.

Beijing had earlier said it was looking to about 9% of its coal production capacity.

As previously reported, China Shenhua Energy's attributable profitfor 2015 dropped by about54.9% on a yearly basis to 17.74 billion Chinese yuan.

As of March 28, US$1 wasequivalent to 6.48 Chinese yuan.