China's weak power use points to subdued economic activity

BEIJING - China's electricity consumption, an important indicator of economic activity, remained lukewarm in September in another sign of subdued strength in the world's second-largest economy.

Power use rose 2.7 percent year on year to 457 billion kilowatt hours in September, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said on Thursday.

The data, though recovering from a 1.5-percent drop in August, was still weak. In the first nine months, power use went up 3.9 percent, significantly below the market forecast of around 6 percent for the whole year.

Between January and September, electricity use by primary industry went up 2.4 percent from a year earlier. Power consumption by secondary industry reached 2.98 trillion kwh, up 4 percent, while that by tertiary industry gained 5.7 percent to reach 503.3 billion kwh.

The power data came as other key economic indicators, including investments and industrial output, fell below market expectations in recent months, fueling concerns that China may miss its annual growth target of around 7.5 percent.

Data released on Wednesday showed China's consumer inflation slowed to 1.6 percent in September, the lowest since January 2010. This fueled hopes for more government stimulus measures to support growth.

In the first half of 2014, China's economy expanded 7.4 percent from a year earlier. The country is scheduled to release its third-quarter economic data on Oct. 21.

Previously, the World Bank trimmed its 2014 growth forecast for China to 7.4 percent from 7.6 percent because it believes policies aimed at putting the economy on a more sustainable footing will sap growth. The International Monetary Fund left its forecast for China's growth this year unchanged at 7.4 percent.

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