Growth in power use in China to halve
Print Edition
GROWTH in China’s power consumption is expected to halve to between 3.5 percent and 4 percent in 2014, the China Electricity Council forecast, marking the slowest growth in at least a decade.
The marked deceleration comes as economic growth in the world’s second-largest economy has slipped to its lowest level in five years, growing by 7.3 percent in the third quarter, and amid signs that it could be losing even more momentum in the closing months of the year.
But while electricity consumption rates seem to indicate a sharp slowdown in growth, analysts said the real economy was still robust, as government efforts to rebalance the economy in recent years means growth is now less reliant on energy-guzzling sectors.
“China’s development has entered a ‘new normal,’ whereby economic growth is moderating and industries face growing pressure to improve energy efficiency and reduce pollution,” the CEC said in a statement.
The government’s clampdown on the housing market and efforts to tackle overcapacity have also hurt many other energy-intensive sectors such as steel, aluminium and copper, said Zhou Hao, an economist at ANZ Bank in Shanghai.
This is the second time the CEC has downgraded its power consumption forecast, following a February estimate of 7 percent growth.
China’s electricity use, a key mark of industrial activity, rose 7.5 percent in 2013, when its annual economic growth was 7.7 percent. The lowest rate recorded in the last decade was in 2008, when it grew by 5.23 percent.
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