Abstract:As major coal-consuming nations and leaders in advanced clean coal technologies, China and Japan's scientific and technological collaboration in the coal sector plays a critical role in promoting just energy transitions and accelerating the realization of carbon neutrality goals for both countries and the world at large. Through literature review, three key mechanisms of international science and technology collaboration have been identified: the driving mechanism, the guarantee mechanism, and the constraint mechanism. The research finds that following the introduction of carbon neutrality targets, there has been increased alignment in the direction of coal policies within the driving mechanisms. However, uncertainties have emerged within each of the three mechanisms. In light of this, to further Sino-Japanese collaboration in coal technology, it is essential to establish cross-border and inter-industry value chains for clean and efficient coal utilization, promote clean coal technologies to third-party markets to facilitate just energy transitions, and enhance the functions of collaboration promotion agencies to promote information disclosure and sharing.