Clean utilization of coal depends on the quality of raw coal, which depends on the coal-forming parent materials (petrology and chemical composition of coal), the multiple media of the coal-forming environment, and some epigenetic conditions, such as thermal evolution (coalification), magmatic hydrothermal fluid, groundwater. Based on the research results of predecessors and prediction studies of coal resources since the founding of China, the present status of research on coal petrology, coal quality, coal metamorphism, and coal geochemistry in China is discussed in detail, with emphasis on research progress and the general situation of highly efficient and clean utilization of coal in the technical fields of coking, pyrolysis, combustion, gasification, and liquefaction, and the development prospects of coal petrology and coal quality in China are prospected.