For China coal is abundant and cheap - low labour costs, limited H&S, few environmental controls.
Using coal for power generation is completely proven technology which can be quickly rolled out to increase capacity - low labour costs make construction cheap.
They fnd it difficult to export coal as the other main users - India and Russia also have abundant reserves. So they build coal power plants and export photovoltaics which are in demand.
Personal opinion - they are driven to challenge for world leadership - miltary, political and economic. They have the command structure to achieve this, Coal (= cheap reliable energy) is just one element in the grand plan.
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