BEIJING — China's clean energy use grew rapidly and the energy consumption per unit of GDP continued to fall in the first three quarters, official data showed.

Energy consumption per unit of GDP in the first three quarters dropped 2.7 percent year-on-year, the same as that in the first half-year, said Liu Wenhua, an energy official with the National Bureau of Statistics.

The total energy consumption in the first three quarters grew by 3.3 percent year-on-year, while the growth rate was 0.1 percentage points lower year-on-year, he said.

The share of clean energy in the total energy consumption, including natural gas, hydropower, nuclear power and wind power, was 1.2 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

In contrast, the share of coal in the total energy consumption went down 1.7 percentage points in the first nine months from the same period last year.