The investment prospects of the coal power industry in Asia may face short-term and long-term diverge due to the dual impact of post-epidemic economic recovery and the global targets of "carbon peaking" and "carbon neutral". In the short term, the price of thermal coal for power generation has risen sharply as demand for coal in China, India, South Korea and Japan has grown strongly on the back of the economic recovery. The International Energy Agency predicted in December that global demand for coal would increase in 2021 as rising fossil-fuel use in parts of Asia offset declines in coal use in other parts of the world. But in the long run, new investment in coal power in developing Asian economies is tapering off as pressure mounts from the international environmental movement and from governments adopting clean-energy policies. Judging from the policy changes touted by energy ministries and politicians in Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and Bangladesh, only 25 GW of new coal power projects in 2021 are still in the pre-construction planning stage. According to the Global Energy Monitor, this is a reduction of 80% compared to the 125 GW planned five years ago. India has also drastically cut coal power projects from 238 GW planned for 2015 to 30 GW. Vietnam will release a new energy plan early next year aimed at helping the country transition from coal power to liquefied natural gas and renewable energy. Bangladesh is also reviewing its policy to abandon all future plans to build coal-fired power plants. Long-term environmental policy trends of many Asian countries suggest that the scale of investment in coal projects in Asia is expected to continue to decline in the future, and that coal-power projects will become increasingly difficult to attract investment.