Shenzhen’s record power use in 2021 hints at healthy economic growth, despite US-China tech war
- Producers of computers, communication and other electronic equipment consumed 16.9 per cent more electricity last year compared to 2020
- Shenzhen has been caught in the middle of a battle for tech supremacy between China and the US, stoking concerns about its economic health
Power consumption in China’s tech hub Shenzhen hit a record high last year, pointing to healthy economic growth despite sanctions from Washington on several of its biggest companies and disruptions to global supply chains caused by the pandemic.
Electricity consumption in the southern city rose by 12.2 per cent from a year earlier to 110.34 billion kilowatt-hours (KWH) in 2021, breaking the 100 billion KWH threshold for the first time, according to the data from China Southern Power Grid released on Wednesday.
Analysts and even policymakers have long used power consumption to gauge economic activity in the world’s No 2 economy.
In 2007, Premier Li Keqiang, who was then Liaoning party secretary, said that China’s economic growth figures were unreliable and he focused on three other indicators, namely railway cargo volume, electricity consumption and bank lending, according to leaked US diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks.
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