Economic slowdown takes toll on power firms

Despite the country's energycrunch in the first half of this year, falling demand as a result of mounting economic problems has led many Chinese power plants to cut output by as much as 50 percent.

One senior staff member at a power plant in Shanxi province told China Daily that one-third of its generating facilities had been shut down due to falling demand.

The State Electricity Regulatory Commission (SERC) said the country's power consumption grew 9.67 percent in the first nine months of the year, with the growth rate falling 5.45 percent year-on-year.