China will step up the development of coalbed gas as a clean energy alternative, the National Energy Administration said. The authority said it plans to build three to five exploitation and production bases in the Qinshui Basin in Shanxi and the Ordos Basin the Inner Mongolia in the next five to 10 years. China is estimated to hold 36.8 trillion cubic meters of coalbed gas, after Russia and Canada. Annual coalbed gas production is expected to total 30 billion m3 in China by the end of 2015.