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China had, by far, the world's most severe, widespread, & lengthy covid restrictions- which were only lifted in December 2022.

These severe covid restrictions had shrunk its economy significantly- but many predicted growth, & its voracious demand for fossil fuel imports, would return by mid to late 2023. This has still not happened (Experts state the disastrous & massive overbuilding/glut of unoccupied, new dwellings- causing major price falls, insolvencies etc.- is mainly responsible).
It appears there are now the first real signs of economic growth- factory activity in 2024 grew to high, "normal" levels. If China's economy is starting to rebound, this bodes well for WHC met & thermal coal sales.

The Market Herald Online J. Davidson said 30.4.24

"The Chinese economy matters for Australia for a few reasons, but there’s two very big ones.

The first one is obvious: iron ore sales (& met & thermal sales- my words). Treasurer Jim Chalmers has been saying for months that as iron ore prices fall, driven by a weaker Chinese demand base due to that country’sproperty sector woes, our budget surplus will falter.

(With that said,SGX iron ore futures are back to US$116/tn.)...

Which is why it’s interesting that – should you trust the Chinese data –factory activity is at a 14 month high, which we learned on Tuesday.

Chinese industrial production hit pre-COVID levelsback in February of this year, even as the country struggles withdeflationary pressure, which it’s beengrapplingsince mid-late 2023.

All in all, it’s hard to make sense of China right now – a lot of the numbers don’t appear to add up, but the country is deeply complex and language barriers make reliable high-quality analysis more difficult.

But one thing is certain: inflationary pressure interplays aside, a strong China makes for a stronger Australia.

Also worth noting is that the CH50 index is having a fairly good week, compared to its recent doldrums.

M&G Investments equities chief Fabiana Fedeli revealed on Monday that firm had exposed itself to Chinese markets early 2024; while Philips CEO Roy Jakobs expects a recovery in H2CY2024 – though, alotof people are saying that".

Oz Economic Indicators: Retail sales weakest on record & China factories hit 14mth high | 2024-04-30 | HotCopper