BEIJING, June 17 (Xinhua) -- China cut electricity tariffs for industrial and commercial businesses by 10.1 percent last year in order to alleviate financial burdens on companies and inject vitality to the economy.
The move saved industrial and commercial businesses 125.79 billion yuan (about 18.25 billion U.S. dollars) in 2018, although this led to a 24.3-percent fall in power grid firms' profits, according to a report released by the China Electricity Council.
Power generating companies reaped a combined profit of 221 billion yuan last year, up 23.8 percent year on year, due to a low comparison base and a relatively fast growth in the amount of electricity generation.
China aims to lower the power tariff by another 10 percent on average for the industrial and commercial users this year, according to the annual government work report published in March.
Some provinces including Sichuan and Guangdong have already lowered electricity costs by over 10 percent, while Zhejiang and other provinces plan to follow suit on July 1.
The council also revised down the growth of China's 2018 power consumption to 8.4 percent from the previously reported 8.5 percent.
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