China's electricity output picks up in June as industry, heat gear up

Chinese power producers generated 309.3 billion kilowatts last month, up 3.6 percent on the year, ending eight straight months of decline since October, the Xinhua news agency reported, citing the State Grid Corporation of China.

The rebound was partly down to industrial activity gearing up recently with the economy showing some signs of recovering, analysts said, according to the report.

It was also a result of increased consumption due to scorching heat that hit most parts of the country in late June, with temperatures reaching as high as 40 degree Celsius (104 degree Fahrenheit) in some areas, the report said. The rise in electricity output is the latest in a slew of figures suggesting the Chinese economy is getting better, it said.

The official Purchasing Managers' Index, or PMI, hit 53.2 in June, up from 53.1 in May, the fourth consecutive month that manufacturing activity expanded, data released this week showed.

Industrial output, a key gauge of activity in factories and plants, jumped 8.9 percent in May from a year earlier, the highest monthly growth rate since October.

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