China on Wednesday said imported coal had failed to meet local environmental standards, responding to reports of dozens of shipments of Australian coal that are currently stalled in Chinese ports.
Zhao Lijian told a daily media briefing the country had also strengthened inspections of coal imports.
(This story has been refiled to say China said coal imports failed to meet environmental standards, not Australian coal imports)
(Reporting by Muyu Xu and Cate Cadell)