Chinese Datong Coal Mine Group and Turkish Hattat Group on Tuesday signed a 16-million-Euro worth contract to prospect coal and methane in Amasra town of Bartin province on Turkish Black Sea littoral.

A signing ceremony was held in Ankara Sheraton Hotel with the

attendances of Shanxi Vice Governor Jin Shanzhong, Turkish Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu, Industry and Trade Minister Ali Coskun, Energy Minister Hilmi Guler and executives of Turkish and Chinese companies.

Jin Shanzhong said at the ceremony that China considers this contract a turning point to further promote cooperation in the fields of science, technology, industry and trade between the two countries.

Turkish Energy Minister Hilmi Guler said that Turkey would rather depend on coal, hydropower and renewable energy than natural gas and oil which are imported and the prices are soaring constantly.

"Coal and water are the main pillars of our energy policy. The third one is renewable energy, and the fourth is nuclear energy and the last one is natural gas," Guler said.

China's Datong Group produces more than 120 million tons of coal per year, ranking as the second largest in China and sixth largest coal mining company in the world.

Datong and Hattat will excavate 5 million tons of coal annually in Turkey. The project will employ 11,000 people with a ultimate total investment of two billion U.S. dollars which will be allotted in five phases.