China's Energy Output Down

BEIJING, August 9 (Xinhua) -- China's production of energy dropped in the January-May period this year, according to the latest figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Total energy production in the first five months amounted to 410 million tons of standard coal equivalent, down five percent from the same 1998 period.

Production of coal dropped 6.9 percent to 388 million tons, while that of crude oil edged up 1.2 percent to 66.6 million tons and that of gasoline grew 11.8 percent to 15.1 million tons.

In the meantime, power output increased 4.9 percent to 469 billion kwh. The output of thermal power output amounted to 404 billion kwh, up 8.5 percent on an annual basis, while that of hydro-electric power output plunged 12.9 percent to 59 billion kwh.