Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) was done to determine the abundances of rare earth elements (REE) of 58 samples of Late Palaeozoic Carboniferous-Permian coals and related rocks in North China. Detailed study of REE geochemistry shows that the ∑REE of most coals studied in this paper is in a normal range between 30×10-6 and 80×10-6 with a mean of 56×10-6. The REE in the Taiyuan Formation in the northern part of North China are much richer than those in the southern part. This is due to the shorter distance to the source area in the north. Moreover, the IREE is in positive correlation to coal ash, especially closely related to the content of clay minerals <2μm in size. This reveals that most REE were carried by terrigenous clastic materials, especially fine clay minerals. In the coals the light REE (LREE) are much richer than the heavy REE (HREE), and the LREE/HREE ratio in coals generally varies from 2 to 8. The LREE/HREE ratio of high-ash, low-sulphur coals is higher than that of lo