In order to give a better play to the role of the market, to integrate and utilize Shenhua's scientific and technological resources on the industrial chain, and to address the major and key technical problems obstructing the development of the enterprise, since the beginning of 2001, Shenhua Group has been focusing on the strengthening of strategic cooperation with various types of external scientific and technological resources and technological forces.

Shenhua Group has carried out various forms of strategic cooperation whose main content is technological innovation, with more than 10 municipalities, provinces, and autonomous regions covering Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Shandong Province, etc. It has established strategic cooperation relations with China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, China North Industries Group Corporation, and other enterprises under the central government and has become a member of the Board of Directors of China University of Mining. Moreover, it has developed technological innovation and cooperation relations at a variety of levels with China Petroleum & Chemical Group, BHP Billiton, Sasol, Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiaotong University, US-based West Virginia University (WVU), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Central Coal Mining Research Institute, Xi'an Institute of Thermal and other domestic and foreign enterprises, universities and research institutes with profound technical strength in relevant industries.

As the network focal point and link point of technological innovation, Shenhua Group plays the leading and guiding role in the technology and equipment application, has established a self-centered industrial technology innovation strategic cooperation network, and has solved a group of industrial technology problems in the non-core technology field via integration of various scientific and technological resources. According to statistics, within the 8 years from 2001 to 2008, nearly 20,000 experts, scholars, and technicians from more than 100 R & D institutions of all types participated in the technological innovation projects or scientific and technological cooperation and exchange activities of Shenhua.

Shenhua Group actively explores the new mode of production-learning-research-application cooperation and has achieved outstanding results in strategic cooperation, particularly the strategic cooperation with Shanghai City and China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. And, on the basis of strategic cooperation, it has established an industrial technology innovation strategic alliance.

First, the strategic cooperation with Shanghai. Shenhua Group carries out strategic cooperation with Shanghai City and related enterprises in research and development of key coal mining equipment, manufacturing of electrical equipment, and direct coal liquefaction test base construction. In February 2003, Shenhua Group participated in the research and development of and purchased all at once 17 host equipment of 600MW power station at the price of RMB10 billion from Shanghai Electric Group, which greatly supported the localization process of host equipment of 600MW power station. Shanghai City. provides great support for Shenhua Group in the construction process of the direct coal liquefaction test base.

Secondly, strategic cooperation with China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. Shenhua Group and China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation have achieved breakthrough results in their technological cooperation in the fields covering hydraulic support research and development and the development of electro-hydraulic control system. The mechanism constraint of “First Machine’s Performance” has been solved. The two sides jointly conduct research and development in the key hydraulic support technology, electro-hydraulic control system which has not been tackled for two decades by the China's coal industry, and have achieved success.

Thirdly, establishment of the innovative strategic alliance for industrial technology. On the basis of carrying out strategic cooperation of various forms and at various levels, Shenhua Group, in 2007, took the lead in uniting 18 units boasting powerful technology strength and human resources such as China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Shanghai Jiaotong University, and Central Coal Research Institute to establish the “Coal Development &Utilization Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance” which was listed as one of the four strategic alliances of the first batch of national pilots. Since then, Shenlong had formed the new model of production-study-research-application cooperation combining the two-way strategic cooperation with the market as the link point and with voluntary equality, win-win benefit, risk sharing, resource sharing, and complementary advantages as the principle, and the multi-strategic alliance.