From March 20 to March 22, the conference for establishment of International Research Alliance on Coal (IRAC) was held at CUMTB. Jointly initiated by CUMTB, CUMT, UNSW (the University of New South Wales, Australia), CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Australia), VT (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, America), and WVU (West Virginia University, America), IRAC is committed to solving the global challenges that the coal industry worldwide is now facing through promoting international cooperation, timely transferring technologies and research achievements to the global stakeholders, as well as creating and improving exchange programs for researchers and students in this field.