The Kailuan Coal Mine is actually jointly operated by Huashang Luanzhou Mining Co., Ltd. and British Kaiping Mining Co., Ltd., collectively known as Kailuan. Kaiping Mining Co., Ltd., the predecessor of Kaiping Mining Bureau, was founded in 1878. It was initiated by Tang Tingshu of Fujian Province in the late Qing Dynasty. It raised 800,000 taels of silver from commercial shares and invested in the mining of coal mines in Qiaotun, Tangshan. In October 1892, Tang Tingshu died of illness and Zhang Yi took over. In 1894, Zhang Yi hired De Cuilin, the Tianjin Customs and Taxation Department, to be the director of the association and continued to expand his business. In 1900, the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded Beijing and signed the "Xin Chou Treaty", ceding land and paying indemnities. Mines across the country were also included in the indemnity. Zhang Yi was afraid that the mine would be implicated and wanted to preserve the mine through a Sino-foreign joint venture, so he entrusted De Cuilin to raise foreign shares. On July 30, 1900, Deculin secretly colluded with Hoover (the 31st President of the United States), the agent of the Merlin Company, to sell the mine to the Merlin Company, and entered into a sales contract and handed over the deputy contract***9 It was agreed that the contract would be formally signed after 6 months. Soon, the sale of mineral rights was reported, and the Qing government strictly ordered it to be taken back. Zhang Yi went to the UK to file a lawsuit. Although they won the case, the British businessmen ignored the British court's judgment and insisted on using the sale and transfer contracts as basis and refused to return the mining rights. In fact, China had lost the sovereignty of the coal mine.

In 1907, Qing government officials Zhou Xuexi, Lu Muzhai and others initiated the establishment of Luanzhou Mining Co., Ltd. The original purpose was to use Luanzhou Company to suppress Kaiping Company. At the same time, they also saw that Kaiping Company's operations were very profitable, and then We persuaded Tianjin official banks and local officials and citizens to raise 3 million taels of silver, which was divided into half official shares and half commercial shares.

Since the establishment of Luanzhou Company, it has been competing with Kaiping Company for three years, causing serious losses to both parties. Kaiping Company proposed joint operation in 1912, and was contacted by Tianjin gentry businessmen Li Shipu and Wang Youlian. The two parties agreed to organize a joint operation to establish the Kailuan Mining Administration and entered into a joint operation contract. The first phase of the joint operation lasted from 1912 to 1934. The second period was from 1934 to 1950. After the two companies joined forces, they became one entity. The two companies no longer competed, and their turnover increased day by day. They gradually occupied the market and became the largest coal company in the north. Tangshan was liberated on December 12, 1948, and all mining areas were liberated with it.