August 29, 2011 (Yosua Nainggolan) According to Sun Tzu, “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.” For the Chinese coal giants today, the battles are happening deep in the mines, and victory is won up in the stock markets. Two major “enemies” of Yanzhou Coal (NYSE: YZC) would be China Shenhua Energy Co. Ltd. (HKG:1088) and China Coal Co. Ltd. (HKG:1898). Together with Yanzhou Coal (NYSE:YZC), these three giants compose more than 90% of the Chinese coal industry, with China Shenhua (HKG:1088) alone taking more than 60% of it and has become more valuable than U.S. giant Peabody Energy (NYSE:BTU).

With the global increase in coal demand in the last 5 years, all three companies have enjoyed steady and promising growth. As the sizes of these three companies are noticeably different, there are also differences in the rate at which certain financial aspects of these companies have grown throughout the last 5 years.