China's power use increases in May

China's electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, rose 4.6 percent year on year in May, with the rate expanding 3.9 percentage points from April, the country's top economic planner said Tuesday. In the January-May period, the country's electricity consumption dropped 2.8 percent year on year, said Meng Wei, a spokesperson with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) during a press conference.

Specifically, power use by first industry and residential power consumption increased 7.1 percent and 5.2 percent year on year, respectively, said Meng.

During the same period, power consumption in the second and tertiary industries decreased 4 percent and 6.3 percent year on year, respectively, according to the NDRC.

Meanwhile, 10 provincial-level regions registered growth in electricity consumption, with that of Yunnan Province and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region up by over 5 percent, Meng added.