She told Future of Mining Sydney 2018 that Australian suppliers that had niche products were encouraged to seek collaborations with Chinese companies under the initiative.

"China has a massive environmental challenge," she said.

 

"There is a challenge to reduce carbon emissions. There is huge demand for METS companies developing clean coal technology." 

 

Australia has a unique advantage in that it has good intellectual property that can be used in conjunction with third parties on projects around the world, according to Dong.     

"You have to have a niche market," she said.

 

Thomson Reuters Asia Commodities and Energy Columnist Clyde Russell told the conference there had been little addition to supply to the seaborne market.

 

"You have countries like Indonesia where the government has indicated that it will be using more of its coal for domestic use," he said.

 

Dong said this could lead to greater opportunities for Australian producers that exported clean coal to markets such as China.