Power consumption by China's high energy-consuming industries set new records in the first quarter of this year, an official from the China Electricity Council (CEC) told Shanghai Securities News.
Statistics from the National Energy Commission (NEC) showed that the country's total electricity use in the first three months rose 24.2 percent over the same period of 2009, to 969.5 billion kilowatt hours.
Xue Jing, director of the CEC's statistics and information department, told the paper that power use by these high energy-consuming industries in the first quarter accounted for more than 30 percent of the total power consumption, setting a new record.
China's four major energy-consuming industries steel, chemical, non-ferrous metals, and building materials all held new records in electricity use in the first quarter, Xue added.
Power consumption by the country's heavy industries soared 30.5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter to hit 592.4 billion kilowatt hours, according to the NEC.
