State Grid employees check equipment at a power station in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on Nov 9, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua]

    BEIJING -- China's electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, registered a robust increase in February, as COVID-triggered disruptions gradually waned and the country's economy recovered steadily.

    Total power use in China jumped 11 percent year-on-year last month to 695 billion kilowatt-hours, data from the National Energy Administration showed.

    Electricity consumed by the secondary industry surged 19.7 percent from a year ago in February. Power consumption in the primary and tertiary industries rose 8.6 percent and 4.4 percent year-on-year, respectively.

    Residential power consumption logged a year-on-year decline of 9.2 percent.

    In the first two months, the country's power use increased 2.3 percent year-on-year to 1.38 trillion kilowatt-hours.

Source: By Xinhua News Agency, chinadaily.com, Mar. 16, 2023 [https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202303/16/WS6412aa3aa31057c47ebb4d84.html]