The extraction residue (ER) from Xinghe lignite was subjected to ethanolysis at 300 degrees C and the yield of ethanol-soluble portion (ESP) is 66.8 wt% (daf). The ER was characterized by solid-state C-13 nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry (SS C-13 NMRS) and X-ray photoelectron spectrometry (XPS), while non-basic and basic heteroatom-containing species in the ESP were analyzed by negative-and positive-ion electrospray ionization (ESI) Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICRMS), respectively. According to the characterization by SS C-13 NMRS, the ER contains 56.6% of aromatic carbon and 37.8% of aliphatic carbon and each aromatic cluster contains 2 aromatic rings on average. The characterization by XPS suggests that -OH, pyrrolic nitrogen, thiophene, and sulfoxide are important heteroatom occurrences in the ER. According to the analysis by ESI FTICRMS, the non-basic and basic species distribute in the range of molecular mass from 160 to 450 u and 200 to 950 u, respectively. The abundant O-2 class species among the identified non-basic species could be alkanoic acids, arenediols, and arenoic acids. Non-basic N and NO classes could be pyrroles, indoles, and carbazoles with double bond equivalent (DBE) values from 1 to 16 and carbon numbers (CNs) from 7 to 28. The NOx class species dominate the basic species and span wider DBE values (4-24) and CNs (14-54). Most of these species could be attributed to quinolines (DBE >= 7), acridines (DBE >= 10), and N-heterocyclic aromatics with at least 4 rings like benzoacridine ring (DBE = 13). Sulfur in the acidic classes (O3S, S-2, and OS2) mainly exists in mercapto group and/or thiophene ring, while the basic OS and O2S classes may have sulfur present in thiophene sulfoxides and thiophene sulfones, respectively. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.