China's electricity consumption to grow by around 600 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) annually during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030), an energy official said at a press conference in Beijing on Friday .
Du Zhongming, director of the Electricity Department of the National Energy Administration, said China will take more effective measures to guarantee the power supply.
"During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, with the surging computing power consumption, rapidly growing demand for electric vehicle charging facilities, and rigid growth in power consumption of other industries and households, we predict that the average annual growth of electricity consumption nationwide will reach around 600 billion kilowatt-hours, equivalent to the annual power consumption of a medium-sized economy," Du said.
To guarantee the power supply, China will accelerate the formation of a green and low-carbon supply pattern and continue to give full play to the guarantee role of gas electricity and coal electricity, he said.
Du said China will step up efforts to build new-type power grids, develop virtual power plants, effectively utilize new energy storage facilities, and enhance capacity for electricity supply during peak hours.
During the current peak summer period, the government will leverage power transmission channels and surplus resources of all localities, and carry out inter-provincial market-based transactions and mutual assistance in a staggered manner to resolutely safeguard the safety of the large power grids and guarantee the electricity supply for people's livelihood, he said.
China's power consumption to grow by 600 bln kWh annually
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index closed lower on Friday due to the impact of the inclusion of new AI companies this month, said Timothy Pope, a market analyst for China Global Television Network (CGTN).
Hong Kong's stock market ended lower Friday with the benchmark Hang Seng Index down 1.76 percent to close at 22,671.86 points.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index slid 1.94 percent to 7,460.84 points, and the Hang Seng Tech Index plummeted 3.41 percent to 4,255.59 points.
Two of China's leading AI companies, Knowledge Atlas (Zhipu) and MiniMax, joined the Hang Seng Tech Index in early June. Though only listed in January, both have become the best-performing new stocks on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Pope said the inclusion of the two companies marks a significant milestone for the Hong Kong market, yet there will be a painful period before the adaption is complete.
"Hong Kong's Hang Seng, of course, has only just taken steps to increase its exposure to AI stocks, and that was definitely a factor in taking the index to a one-year low today. It was down by 1.8 percent at the end of the trade, and the Hang Seng Tech Index fell 3.4 percent. The two stocks which were added to the Hang Seng to counter criticism over a lack of AI exposure for the index - Knowledge Atlas technologies and MiniMax - both Chinese companies working on large language AI models - tanked today. Knowledge Atlas was off by 12.9 percent and MiniMax by 6.5 percent despite a last minute attempt to claw back some losses," Pope said.
Pope said regardless of the general loss, some companies achieved good performance on the Hong Kong market.
"You actually had to look quite hard for good news on the Hong Kong markets today, but it was there, for debut companies like tech manufacturer - and ironically Apple supplier - Lingyi (iTech). It completed a billion-dollar IPO this week and its stock was up 73 percent today, its first day of trade," he added.
Hong Kong stocks slip due to impact from newly-added AI companies: analyst
Hong Kong stocks slip due to impact from newly-added AI companies: analyst
