China's power consumption rises 5.3% in H1

BEIJING - China's power consumption rose 5.3 percent year on year in the first half of 2014, picking up slightly from the 5.2 percent growth in the January-May period, official data showed on Tuesday.

Total power use, an important indicator measuring economic vitality, stood at 2.63 trillion kwh, according to the National Energy Administration.

During the period, electricity use by the primary industry dropped 4.6 percent year on year. Power consumption by the secondary industry rose 5.1 percent while that by the tertiary industry went up 6.9 percent.

In June, power use increased 5.9 percent from a year ago, up 0.6 percentage points from the growth in the previous month.

China's economic growth slowed to 7.4 percent year on year in the first quarter. Figures on economic performance for the second quarter are due out on Wednesday.

The average operational time of power plants across the country dropped by 79 hours to 2,087 hours in the first six months.

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