Loan prime rates remain unchanged

China's one-year loan prime rate, a market-based benchmark lending rate, came in at 3 percent on Wednesday, the same as the previous month. The over-five-year LPR, on which many lenders base their mortgage rates, also remained unchanged from the previous reading of 3.5 percent, according to the National Interbank Funding Center.

China's power use up 6% in April

China's electricity consumption, a key barometer of economic activity, rose 6 percent year-on-year in April, official data showed. Power use totaled 820.5 billion kilowatt-hours last month, according to the National Energy Administration. A breakdown of the data showed that power consumed by the primary industry rose 2 percent year-on-year to 11.2 billion kilowatt-hours, while power consumed by the secondary industry increased 5.3 percent to 558.4 billion kilowatt-hours.

Xinhua - China Daily