China's power consumption in September fell 12 percent month on month to 349.8 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), the National Energy Administration (NEA) said Monday.

The NEA did not provide the year-on-year growth rate for the month.

But according to government figures, China's power consumption was 322.4 billion kWh in September 2009, meaning on a year-on-year basis, electricity consumption grew 8.5 percent last month.

That year-on-year growth rate figure is lower than the 14.69 percent year-on-year growth rate recorded in August.

Wang Siqiang, a NEA official, said the slower growth was due to government efforts to save energy and reduce emissions.

In the first nine months, electricity consumption amounted to 3.14 trillion kWh, 18 percent more than in the same period last year.

(Xinhua News Agency October 25, 2010)