Power use slows sharply in July
CHINA’S power consumption slowed sharply in July, adding to signs the world’s second-largest economy may be losing steam.
Electricity consumption, a broad measure of economic vitality, increased 3 percent year on year to 509.7 billion kilowatt-hours in July, slowing sharply from a 5.9 percent growth in June, according to data from the National Energy Administration yesterday.
The weak demand in July also brought the growth rate of power consumption in the first seven months down to 4.9 percent, compared with 5.3 percent recorded in the January-June period, according to the NEA.
A string of economic data released earlier this week, including the drastic decline in new credit and weaker-than-expected investment figures, indicated that the Chinese economy might need more momentum to get back on track with strong growth.
During the January-July period, electricity use by the primary industry fell 2.1 percent from a year earlier, narrowing from a 4.6 percent decline in the first half of this year. Power consumption by the manufacturing sector rose 4.7 percent, compared with 5.1 percent in the first six months.
Power use by the service sector rose 6.5 percent to 375.4 billion kWh, slightly slower than the 6.9 percent recorded in the January-June period.
Growth of residential power use in the January-July period also slowed to 5.7 percent from 6.6 percent in the first half.
As a result, more of the country’s electricity generating devices were left idle as the average operational time of power plants dropped by 102 hours in the first seven months, widening from 79 hours recorded in the first half of the year.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
- RSS
- |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证:沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证:31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证:0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证:沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证:沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.