The coal industry and the state of West Virginia have plenty to sell to China if the country wants to increase US imports to help reduce US trade deficits with China.

Major state copper and aluminium producers were among the companies that traded almost half a billion yuan of metal on Shanghai Futures Exchange's (ShFE) new physical trading platform in its debut on Monday, the exchange said.

The deepest borehole to be drilled for scientific purposes by Asians-the first to penetrate a continental layer of strata from the earth's Cretaceous period-was completed in northeastern China on Saturday, four years after it began. It reached a depth of 7,018 meters.

Experts said China's energy sector needs to further open up and develop alternative resources as the nation's energy consumption continues to rely heavily on coal and imported petroleum.

China is looking to boost its role in global commodity markets by allowing foreign investors to trade iron ore futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange from Friday, a move which should help the country gain some pricing power over the key ingredient in steel.

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