BEIJING, June 15 (Reuters) - On China's frenetic and hugely popular retail livestreams, glamorous hosts sell goods ranging from shoes and lipsticks to baby products and, increasingly, truckloads of sulphurous coal. By comparison, domestic thermal 5,500 kcal coal was traded at about 800 yuan ($111.64) per ton as of last week, according to trading sources. Though wholesaling of hard commodities is not entirely new to China's streaming platforms, it appears to be on the rise. Three of the most active coal channels on Douyin identified by Reuters - Huaze Coal, Guohai Daily Coal Price, and Jixing Coal - have together held 164 such online events so far this quarter, up from 120 events last quarter and 107 events in the fourth quarter of 2022. ($1=7.17 yuan)Reporting by Andrew Hayley and Beijing newsroom: Editing by Tony Munroe, Alexandra HudsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Persons: Andrew Hayley, Tony Munroe, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: Huaze Coal Industry, Reuters, Huaze, Daily Coal, Jixing, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Shanxi, Beijing