China’s Australian coal imports continue as normal, but the customs administration has stepped up environment and safety checks on foreign cargoes, Geng Shuang, spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said on Friday. Geng said that a report that the northern port of Dalian has banned Australian coal imports was not true. On Thursday, Reuters reported that customs at Dalian has banned imports of Australian coal and will cap overall coal imports from all sources to the end of 2019 at 12 million tons.