Mercury emission inventory by province from coal combustion in China was developed by combining fuel consumption, mercury content in fuel and emission factors after combustion in this study. The study is intended to provide an understanding of mercury transformation, transportation and deposition in atmosphere, as well as propose measures to control mercury pollution in China. Mercury emission sources were classified into 65 categories by economic sectors, fuel types, boiler types and pollution control technologies. For two different data sets of mercury content in coal the total amounts of mercury released into atmosphere in 2000 in China were estimated at about 161.6 tons and 219.5 tons, respectively. The biggest three source sectors were industry, power plants, and residential use, contributing 46%, 35% and 14% of total mercury emissions, respectively. The shares of elemental mercury (Hg0), oxidized mercury (Hg2+ ) and particulate mercury (Hgp) were 16% , 61% and 23% , respectively. The spatial distribution of mercury emissions from coal combustion in China is not uniform. Henan, Shanxi, Hebei, Liaoning and Jiangsu contributed large amounts of mercury emissions, exceeding 10t x a(- 1).