Five Chinese coals, of rank (NCB No.) 602-204, have been carbonized singly, in coal blends and with four pitch additives. Changes in optical texture of resultant cokes are quantitatively assessed using a point-counting method. The pitches are more able than the coals to act as modifiers and bridging agents to up-grade the optical texture of cokes from the low rank and high rank coals. The modifying ability of the pitches can be separately assessed using the extents of conversion of 9,10-dihydroanthracene to anthracene as an index. The Chinese coals are essentially similar to European coals with respect to modifying ability.