China’s power consumption surges on higher use in agri, services sector

China’s power consumption surged for the month of May on higher use of electricity in the agricultural and services sector during the January-May period.

China's use of electricity rose 2.1 percent in May from the corresponding period of last year, up from the 1.9 percent growth registered in April, official data showed Tuesday.

Electricity consumption totaled 473 billion kilowatt hours last month, according to data from the National Development and Reform Commission. Further, China's power generation in May came to 463.6 billion kWh, steady on the same month a year ago, the statistics bureau said on Monday.

In the first five months, electricity consumption increased 2.7 percent year on year to 2.3 trillion kilowatt hours, the commission said. Electricity use in the service sector and agricultural sector both rose 9.6 percent in the January-May period, while the industrial sector saw an increase of 0.4 percent.

"The data pints to positive changes in China's economic structure, as power use in the service sector grew faster than the industrial sector," said Li Pumin, Secretary General, NDRC.

Meanwhile, China approved 78 billion yuan worth of fixed asset investment projects in May.