Yale Environment 360 explains the situation with coal use in China.

Paradoxically, China is at the same time the biggest installer of renewable energy, the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, and the biggest user of coal. One explanation for this conundrum is a national concern over energy security: Coal is the only fossil fuel that China is not obliged to import, either through vulnerable pipelines or along sea routes that pass through precarious choke points like the Straits of Hormuz. China has an abundant supply of coal, boasting about 13.3 percent of the world’s recoverable coal reserves, and, importantly, it is the one fossil fuel that Chinese planners know will remain abundantly available, regardless of any tensions in China’s East Asia region or military action in the Middle East, the region that supplies China with nearly half its oil. This means that despite China’s role as a renewable energy superpower, coal has continued to play a leading role in its energy system. 

They talk about a decrease in “energy intensity”, which is energy use per unit of GDP. So the economy is growing, energy demand is growing, and renewables and battery technology are able to keep up with some but not all of that growth. Hydroelectric is a big part of their energy strategy, and that has been affected by drought recently. There are also complicated reasons why their grid is not run as efficiently as it could be.

My main impression is that it all sounds so…rational. Compared to the U.S. government which at the moment appears to be corrupt, immoral, and just bat-shit crazy.