China's electricity consumption picks up in H1

BEIJING - China's electricity use rose 2.7 percent year on year in the first half of 2016, official data showed Thursday.

Electricity consumption totaled 2.8 trillion kilowatt hours in the first six months, according to data from the National Development and Reform Commission.

Electricity use in the service sector and agricultural sector rose 9.2 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively, in the January-June period, while the industrial sector saw an increase of 0.5 percent.

In June alone, electricity consumption increased 2.6 percent year on year to 492.5 billion kilowatt hours, the commission said.

The data points to positive changes in China's economic structure, as power use in the service sector grew faster than the industrial sector, Zhao Chenxin, spokesperson of the commission, said at a press conference.