China's power use up 5% in H1

BEIJING - China's electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, rose 5 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2019, the country's top economic planner said Tuesday.

Total power use hit 3.4 trillion kilowatt hours in H1, according to Meng Wei, a spokesperson with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

Specifically, power use by the secondary industry increased by 3.1 percent, and that by the tertiary industry 9.4 percent. Some 28 provincial regions saw a growth in electricity consumption, with the use in three regions expanding over 10 percent.

In June alone, the country's power use grew 5.5 percent year-on-year, 3.2 percentage points higher than that in May, said Meng.

NDRC data also showed that China's power generation expanded 3.3 percent year-on-year in H1, 0.9 percentage points lower than that registered in the first quarter.

Fast growth was seen in greener power generation, with the generation of nuclear power surging 23.1 percent, hydropower growing 11.8 percent and solar power increasing 11.2 percent.

Power generation in June grew 2.8 percent year-on-year, 2.6 percentage points faster than that recorded in May, according to the NDRC.