China's power use sees milder growth in October

An employee connects electrical cables atop a 30-meter-high, 110 kV power transmission tower in the Tibet autonomous region. [Photo by Song Weixing/For China Daily]

BEIJING - China's power consumption rose at a slower pace in October than the previous month, data showed Thursday.

The country's electricity use increased 6.7 percent year-on-year last month, compared with 8 percent in September, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

In the first 10 months of the year, power use totaled 5.66 trillion kilowatt hours, up 8.7 percent year-on-year and down 0.2 percentage points from the first nine months but up 2 percentage points from the same period last year.

Power consumption by the service sector and households maintained double-digit growth in the Jan-Oct period, up 13.1 percent and 11.1 percent year-on-year, respectively.

During the period, electricity used by the agricultural and industrial sectors grew 9.8 percent and 7.2 percent, respectively, the NDRC data showed.

The slowdown in power consumption came amid slightly slower economic growth.

China's economy expanded 6.7 percent in the first three quarters, down from 6.8 percent in the first half but staying above the government's annual target of around 6.5 percent.

In October, the country's fixed-asset investment and industrial production both rose at a faster pace, but consumption increase slowed, data showed Wednesday.