BEIJING, May 18 -- Power generation by China's major power-generating enterprises rose 2.6 percent year on year to 744 billion kilowatt-hours in April, official data showed Monday.

The growth rate was 1.2 percentage points higher than the figure posted in March, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

In the first four months of the year, power generation by these enterprises totaled 3.12 trillion kilowatt-hours, up 3.3 percent from the same period of last year.

Broken down by source, hydropower output surged 12.2 percent year on year last month, with the growth rate accelerating 1.4 percentage points from March.

Solar power output expanded by 7.1 percent year on year, while thermal power output increased by 3.1 percent, the NBS data showed.

Nuclear and wind power output dipped 8.7 percent and 5 percent, respectively, according to the NBS data.