China raises electricity tariff by 16.7 yuan

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BEIJING: China has raised price for electricity used for industrial, commercial and agricultural purposes across the country's 15 provinces and municipalities by 16.7 yuan (about $2.57) per 1,000 kilowatt-hours (kwh), the country's top economic planner has said.

Electricity prices for residential use remained unchanged, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said Monday.

The move is intended to ease regional power shortages, restrain the development of energy-guzzling industries and ensure a steady supply of electricity for residential use, according to the commission.

The rise will have a limited impact on the country's consumer price index (CPI), a main gauge of inflation, which rose 5.3 percent year-on-year in April, well above the government's annual inflation control target of 4 percent, according to the NDRC.

Shanxi Province, the country's leading coal producer, saw the largest price increase. Prices of electricity there rose by 24 yuan per 1,000 kwh, compared with a rise of 4 yuan per 1,000 kwh in southwest China's Sichuan Province.