China's total electricity consumption rose 3.5% year on year in March to 859.5 billion kilowatt-hours, data from the National Energy Administration showed.

Power use in the primary sector grew 6.7%, while secondary industry consumption rose 2.0%, including a 2.3% increase in industrial usage. Electricity demand from high-tech and equipment manufacturing expanded 5.6%.

Consumption in the services sector climbed 7.7%, with charging and battery-swapping services and internet data services posting growth of 51.3% and 40.1%, respectively. Residential electricity use rose 5.2%.

In the first quarter, total power consumption reached 2.51 trillion kWh, up 5.2% from a year earlier, the data showed.