China's Q1 power consumption up 4.3%

BEIJING - China's electricity consumption in the January-March period rose 4.3 percent year-on-year to 1.21 trillion kWh, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said Sunday.

In March alone, the Chinese society consumed a total of 424.1 billion kWh of power, up 2 percent year-on-year, according to a statement on the NEA website.

In the first three months, total power consumption by the primary sector dipped 0.3 percent year-on-year to 18.9 billion kWh, while the secondary sector consumed 868.8 billion kWh of power, up 3.8 percent year-on-year, the NEA data showed.

During the same period, the service industry used 152.7 billion kWh while the residents used 173.5 billion kWh of power, up 9.2 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively.

China added another 14.48 million kW of power production capacity in the first three months, including 2.92 million kW of hydropower and 9.26 million kW of thermal power, the NEA added.