BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Electricity consumption by China's electric vehicle charging and internet data service sectors soared in September, highlighting robust demand from the country's fast-growing new-energy vehicle and digital industries, official data showed on Wednesday.
Power consumption by charging and battery-swapping services reached 16.8 billion kilowatt-hours in September, surging 57 percent year on year, while that of internet data services jumped 35.4 percent to 9.8 billion kilowatt-hours, according to the National Energy Administration.
In September, new energy vehicles (NEVs) accounted for a record 61.6 percent of China's monthly new car sales, marking the third consecutive month above the 60 percent threshold, while the cumulative share for the first three quarters rose to 53.6 percent.
By the end of September, China's smart computing power had reached 2,592 EFLOPS, up 146 percent year on year. EFLOPS refers to a unit measuring computing performance, with each unit representing 1 quintillion floating-point operations per second.
China's total electricity consumption for September stood at 899.7 billion kilowatt-hours, an increase of 1.2 percent year on year.
A closer look reveals that electricity consumption by the primary industry stood at 13.5 billion kilowatt-hours in September, up 4.1 percent year on year. Power use by the secondary industry rose 1.7 percent to 580 billion kilowatt-hours, while electricity consumption by the tertiary industry increased 4.9 percent to 185.2 billion kilowatt-hours last month.
Notably, power consumption by high-tech and equipment manufacturing industries climbed 4.6 percent year on year to 116.7 billion kilowatt-hours in September.
Electricity consumption is widely seen as a barometer of economic activity, with shifts in power demand offering clues to changes in industrial structure and growth drivers.
Wednesday's data revealed that while overall power consumption grew at a moderate pace, electricity use in high-tech and equipment manufacturing expanded significantly faster, pointing to the growing role of advanced manufacturing in China's economy.
The sharp increases in power use by EV charging and data services also underscored the emergence of new sources of demand associated with the green and digital transitions.
In the first three quarters of 2026, China's total electricity consumption rose 3.9 percent year on year to 8.07 trillion kilowatt-hours. Electricity use by charging and battery-swapping services surged 55.4 percent in this period, while that of internet data services increased by 41.6 percent.
According to an annual development report on China's electric power industry released by the China Electricity Council in July, total electricity consumption nationwide in 2026 is expected to increase by 5 percent to 6 percent year on year. ■
