China’s climate ambitions rest to a large extent on the efforts of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) which are the dominant players in major greenhouse-gas-emitting sectors, including fossil fuel extraction, power and heavy industry. Soon after China's announcement of the 2060 carbon neutrality target in September 2020, power and coal SOEs moved to strengthen near-term commitments to low-carbon energy, indicating a clear political signal that the SOE managers felt they needed to accelerate deployment. However, commitments to date generally lack specificity in terms of how to achieve long-term ambitions. This session, accompanying the launch of a new working paper on China's SOE transition pathways, will discuss the finances, assets and employment structure of coal businesses in major SOEs and identify pain points that will be faced as they engage in more detailed low-carbon transition planning.