The country’s coal production fell less than 1% to 830 million tons in the first quarter and consumption increased only 1.5%.

Last year, production for the quarter rose 4% to 3.66 billion tons.

Coal output dropped 1.7% in March as sales dipped 2.1% from a year before, the industry group said.

The figures did not include data on coal imports.

The National Bureau of Statistics recently reported a 7.7% growth rate for China's gross domestic product for Q1 2013 but according to Radio Free Asia, this new set of data may raise more flags about the health of the country’s economy.

Chinacoal.gov also reported that the China Coal Industry Association reported a decline in production for the month of March.

The government website reported on Monday that domestic coal production fell 1.7% during March but imports increased by 22.2%.

The website cited a “cool” coal market and “lower than expected” demand and predicted demand to remain low in April.