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China Power Use Contraction Slows in March on Economic Recovery Signs

iconDec 7, 2009 13:16
Source:SMM

BEIJING, Apr. 15 -- Power consumption in China continued to decline in March but the downward pace was slower, reflecting signs of a recovering economy, industry figures showed Tuesday.

    China's power use fell 2.01 percent year on year in March, compared with a dip of 5.2 percent in the January-February period, said the China Electricity Council (CEC) in a statement on its Website.

    In the first quarter, power consumption totaled 781 billion kilowatt-hours, down 4.02 percent from the same period last year, said the CEC.

    Among the total, industrial use of electricity in the first quarter slid 8.38 percent year on year to 550.8 billion kilowatt-hours, CEC data showed. But it was a milder decline than the 10.37 percent year-on-year slump in the January-February period.

    "The power use figure is in the bottom area now and gradually picking up," said Xue Jing, an official with the CEC Department of Statistics and Information.

    "The recovery was most obvious in eastern and southern regions, showing there were positive changes in local economic activities," said Xue.

    For instance, power use in the eastern Anhui Province rose 4.63percent year on year in the first quarter and that in Jiangxi, also an eastern province, went up 3.01 percent.

    Central provinces also recorded increasing power consumption as they were less impacted by the global financial crisis than the export-oriented east and south, she said.

    However, the less-developed western areas still saw sharply less power being used, pointing to uncertainties of the economy.

    Economic slowdown has sapped China's power consumption since last October as the world downturn took a toll on the country's exports.

    The government announced a 4 trillion-yuan (585 billion U.S. dollars) stimulus package in November to spur growth, followed by support plans for ten industries from textile to steel.

    Helped by stimulus measures, light industry and cement producers saw a rebound of electricity use in March, said Xue.

    Power consumption by light industry increased 1.6 percent year on year in March, compared with a 13.5 percent year-on-year decline in December, while that by the cement sector rose 4.24 percent.

    Big power users such as steel, non-ferrous metals and chemical sectors are yet to see a recovery as more specific stimulus policies are needed to invigorate the industries, said Xue.

    Premier Wen Jiabao told reporters in Thailand Saturday that China's economy showed signs of better-than-expected changes during the first quarter. He said industrial output rose 8.3 percent in March, up from a record low of 3.8 percent in the first two months of the year.

    Other positive figures included 1.89 trillion yuan of new loans extended by lenders in China in March, the third straight month that new loans exceeded 1 trillion yuan.

    The National Bureau of Statistics is scheduled to release first-quarter growth data Thursday, which are expected to demonstrate whether an economic recovery is occurring.

    (Source: Xinhua)
 
 

China economy macroeconomy
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