Power consumption continues to grow in first 8 months despite marginal blips

China's power consumption continued to grow in the first eight months of this year, despite marginal blips from rising trade tensions and lower industrial off-take.

Power consumption in the first eight months rose 4.4 percent year-on-year to 4.7 trillion kilowatt-hours, according to data from the National Energy Administration.

Lin Boqiang, head of the China Institute for Studies in Energy Policy at Xiamen University said that the growth rate slipped from 9 percent in 2018, mainly due to the structural changes in China's economy, with the government shifting more focus to the tertiary sector amid growing uncertainties from international trade relations.