China Huaneng Group Corporation was founded in 1989 as the holding company for a series of companies of that under the supervision of State Planning Committee [zh] of the State Council of China, including Huaneng Coal Corporation and Huaneng International Power Development Corporation, etc. The group was part of a project that replacing oil fired power plant to coal power plant (Chinese: 煤代油).[1][2] In 1993, the corporation was under the dual supervision of the Ministry of Power Industry [zh] and the State Planning Committee.[3] In 1995, Huaneng Coal Corporation became a separate state-owned enterprise group that under the provisional supervision of the State Planning Committee, as Shenhua Group.[4] China Huaneng Group was then became the subsidiary of the State Power Corporation of China, a mega-conglomerate that replacing the commercial function of the Ministry of Power Industry.[5] In 2002, the State Power Corporation of China was dismantled[6] as groups of companies of power grid (such as State Grid Corporation of China and China Southern Power Grid) and power plants (such as the big five power groups, Huaneng, China Huadian, China Datang Corporation, China Guodian Corporation and China Power Investment Corporation) In the same year the leader of the mega-conglomerate, Gao Yan [zh] had fled China after being investigated for corruption. Huaneng also received some assets from State Power Corporation of China,[7] such as the hydroelectricity company now known as Huaneng Lancang River Hydropower [zh], a listed company since 2017. In 2005, Huaneng also acquired the controlling stake (after the deal owned 51%) of North United Power Corporation [zh] from a subsidiary of the People's Government of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region [zh], becoming the indirect parent company of listed company Inner Mongolia Mengdian Huaneng Thermal Power [zh] (Mengdian Huaneng).[8]
