Briefly

Power use up 3.9% in August

China's electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, continued stable expansion in August. Power use climbed 3.9 percent year-on-year to 886.1 billion kilowatt-hours last month, driven by robust demand from the industrial sector, said the National Energy Administration. Power consumed by primary industries rose 8.6 percent while that used by secondary and tertiary sectors gained 7.6 percent and 6.6 percent, respectively. However, residential power use registered a 9.9 percent decline.

Central bank conducts reverse repos

China's central bank conducted 110 billion yuan ($15.3 billion) in seven-day reverse repos at an interest rate of 1.8 percent on Thursday. The move aims to keep liquidity in the banking system reasonable and ample, the People's Bank of China said in a statement. A reverse repo is a process by which the central bank purchases securities from commercial banks through bidding, with an agreement to sell them back in the future.

Xinhua - China Daily