China's power coal stockpiles have stopped shrinking and started to rally steadily as a result of heightened output and rush railway transport, Xinhua learned Tuesday from the State Electricity Regulatory Commission.

Domestic power coal reserve has reached 24.06 million tons by Sunday, a rise of 2.99 million tons from the lowest record on January 28, said Tan Rongyao, supervisor with the State Electricity Regulatory Commission. Forty of 50 cities and counties in southwestern Guizhou Province that have been cut off power for days have fully or partly regained access to electricity.

Transmission wires paralyzed by blizzard and accompanying freeze in the worst-hit Hunan and Jiangxi provinces have restored 53 percent and 60 percent of their normal electrical load, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2008)