BEIJING - China's power consumption rose 5.2 percent in the first four months from a year earlier, official data showed on Thursday.

In April alone, power use, an indicator of economic activity, gained 4.6 percent from a year ago, but much lower than the 7.2 percent in March, according to National Energy Administration.

Accordingly, the Jan-April figure was lower than the 5.4-percent rise in the first quarter.

In the first four months, electricity use by the primary industry dropped 4.9 percent year on year to 25.4 billion kwh.

Power consumption by the secondary industry reached 1.24 trillion kwh in the first four months, up 5.0 percent year on year, while that by the tertiary industry rose 6.5 percent year on year to 211.6 kwh.

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