The official data posted on November 14, 2013 showed that the electricity consumption in China – which is also an indication of economic activity – increased 9.5 percent year-on-year in October 2013. However, this growth has been lower than in September 2013 – when it increased to 10.4 percent – and 13.7 percent in August 2013.
The secretary general of the China Electricity Council (CEC), Wang Zhixuan explained that slower electricity consumption in October 2013 is in accordance with market expectations of lower economic growth in the final quarter of 2013. Wang went on to say that the country’s government will made additional efforts in order to reduce excess production capacity in the fourth quarter of 2013 in sectors such as cement, steel, electrolytic aluminium, shipping and sheet glass.
The figures revealed on Thursday, November 14, 2013 have shown that the total consumption of power in the first ten months of 2013 increased 7.4 percent year-on-year, to 4.38 trillion kilowatt hours. The usage of electricity during this period by primary industry totaled to 85.5 billion kwh, which is a decrease of 0.5 percent year-on-year.
It was expected by the CEC that the growth of electricity consumption will fall from 10.9 percent in the period between July 2013 and September 2013, to between 6.5 percent to 7.5 percent in the final quarter of 2013.
Photo Credits: Inhabitat
