China's power use rises 1.8% in June

BEIJING - Growth in China's electricity consumption, an important indicator of economic activity, further recovered in June but remained low, suggesting persistent tepidity in the world's second largest economy.

Power use rose 1.8 percent year on year to 472.3 billion kilowatt hours in June, up slightly from a 1.6-percent rise in May and a 1.3-percent rise in April, the National Energy Administration said on Wednesday.

In the first half of the year, power use went up 1.3 percent. Electricity use by primary industry climbed 0.9 percent from a year earlier. Power consumption by secondary industry went down 0.5 percent, while tertiary industry saw an 8.1-percent rise amid economic restructuring.

The lukewarm data added to a slew of other indicators showing growth momentum has yet to solidify despite a string of government support policies, including three cuts in both benchmark interest rates and banks' reserve requirement ratio in the first half, and the government's accelerated fiscal spending on infrastructure to shore up investment.

China's economy posted 7-percent growth year on year in the second quarter of 2015, unchanged from the first quarter, the lowest quarterly growth rate since 2009.