China's electricity consumption rises nearly 5%

China's electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, reported steady expansion last month, official data showed on Friday.

Power use rose 4.8 percent year-on-year in March to hit 828.2 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), according to data released by the National Energy Administration.

Specifically, power consumed by the country's primary and secondary industries increased 9.9 percent and 3.8 percent year-on-year, respectively, while that of its tertiary sectors rose by 8.4 percent.

The administration said that urban and rural residential electricity consumption last month was up 5 percent from a year ago.

The data showed that in the first three months of 2025, the country's power consumption climbed 2.5 percent to surpass 2.38 trillion kWh.