BEIJING -- China's electricity consumption, an important indicator of economic activity, rose 2.7 percent year on year to 457 billion kilowatt hours in September, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said on Thursday.

The data, though recovering from the 1.5-percent drop seen in August, remained lukewarm in a sign of continued subdued strength in the world's second largest economy.

In the first nine months, power use went up 3.9 percent, significantly below the market forecast of around 6 percent for the whole year.