BEIJING — China's electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, rose 4.5 percent year-on-year in 2019, the country's top economic planner has said.

The growth rate was nearly half down from the 8.5-percent growth in the previous year.

Specifically, power use by first and secondary industries increased 4.5 percent and 3.1 percent, respectively, said Meng Wei, a spokesperson with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

The tertiary industry maintained its faster year-on-year growth at 9.5 percent, according to Meng, while residential power consumption increased 5.7 percent from a year ago.

"China continued its efforts in 2019 to lower power use costs," said Meng. The annual electricity consumption cost for enterprises was reduced by 84.6 billion yuan ($12.28 billion) in 2019, NDRC data showed.

The country also lowered the transportation prices of refined oil, natural gas and trans-provincial pipelines by adjusting the value-added tax rate, reducing users' costs by more than 65 billion yuan throughout the year.