BEIJING, March 18 -- China's electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, reported steady expansion last month, official data showed on Tuesday.

Power use rose 8.6 percent year on year in February to hit 743.4 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), according to data released by the National Energy Administration.

Specifically, power consumed by the country's primary and secondary industries gained 10.2 percent and 12.4 percent year on year, respectively, while that of its tertiary sectors rose by 9.7 percent.

The administration said that urban and rural residential electricity consumption last month was down 4.2 percent from a year ago.

The data showed that in the first two months of 2025, the country's power consumption climbed 1.3 percent to surpass 1.55 trillion kWh.