China's electricity output in July grew 8.6 percent from June, the fastest pace for any month so far this year, a government official said.

In July, China's power production reached 189.88 billion kilowatt-hours, up 11.7 percent year on year, bringing total electricity output in the first seven months of this year to 1,182.58 billion kilowatt-hours, up 15.5 percent year on year, the official said. The growth in China's power demand was being driven by the manufacturing and raw material production sectors as well as growing demand from the residential sector due to increased air conditioner use, he said.

(Shenzhen Daily August 16, 2004)