In this paper, the development direction of coal-fired thermal power generation technology based on the energy structure in China is analyzed. Though carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology can nearly reach to zero emission of CO2, it is not the most economical way at present and still under research and development, requiring a rather long period for extensive use in coal-fired power plants. Therefore, there are many reasonable, economical and reliable ways for further reducing CO2 emissions in coal fired power plants, including greatly developing the supercritical/ultra-supercritical units, enhancing the thermal efficiency by technology innovation, improving the net efficiency of present ultra-supercritical (USC) units with 600 ℃ steam parameters, and developing advanced double-reheat units for reaching to higher than 53% of net efficiency in 1 000~1 500 MW USC units.