Costly coal hits profits of power producers

BEIJING - China's power consumption, a barometer of the economy, will increase rapidly this year as industrial production continues to ramp up, an industry association said on Wednesday.

But the country needs to further reform its electricity pricing system to relieve financial pressure on domestic power producers, according to the China Electricity Council.

China's overall power consumption rose 24.2 percent year-on-year to 969.5 billion kWh in the first quarter. Power consumption for industrial use has increased 81.8 percent in the same period, according to the council.