China's power use down 1.3 percent in April

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- China's electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, recorded a slight decline last month, official data showed Monday.

Total power use dropped by 1.3 percent, year on year, in April to 636.2 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), said the National Energy Administration.

Power consumed by the primary industry increased by 5.5 percent year on year, while that used by the secondary and tertiary industries shrank by 1.4 percent and 6.8 percent, respectively.

Residents' power consumption saw a year-on-year increase of 5.5 percent to 83.7 billion kWh in April, the administration said.

In the first four months of the year, China's power consumption topped 2.68 trillion kWh, up 3.4 percent from a year ago. Residents' power use rose 10.5 percent year on year in the period. ■