BEIJING -- The State Electricity Regulatory Commission said Wednesday that supply and demand for electricity were generally balanced in July.

Power plants generated 453.69 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in July, while transregional electricity trade totaled 18.21 billion kwh during the period, according to an online statement by SERC.

The report said the provinces of Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong and Zhejiang, as well as the Bohai Economic Rim, which covers Beijing, Tianjin and part of Hebei province, were the biggest consumers of power in July.

Power consumption growth slumped significantly in the first half of the year amid an economic slowdown.

In the first six months, total power consumption grew just 5.5 percent from a year earlier to 2.38 trillion kwh, dragged down by a sharp decline in power use by energy-intensive industries, according to the China Electricity Council.

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