(Yicai Global) April 30 -- China's energy consumption hit the fastest pace of growth in half a  decade last year and the demand for liquefied natural gas rose beyond  expectations.

China's energy consumption  rose 3.3 percent from a year ago to reach 4.6 billion tons of coal  equivalent, China National Radio reported yesterday, citing a report  from the China Electric Power Planning & Engineering Institute. LNG consumption increased nearly 18 percent beyond the expected, reaching 280.8 billion cubic meters.

The proportion of  non-fossil energy and LNG will continue to increase whereas that of coal  will slowly decrease, the institute projected. Oil consumption will  remain stable, it added. Clean energy made up 22 percent of the total  energy mix in 2018 with an increase of 1.3 percentage point.

Electricity demand will  climb about 5.8 percent this year, and the growth rate will drop from a  year ago, Xu Xiaodong, associate dean of the research institute, told  CNR at the report's release ceremony. LNG demand will jump over 10  percent to 310 billion cubic meters. Oil consumption will rise nearly 2  percent to 620 million tons. Demand for coal will stay generally stable  at 4 billion tons.

China has improved the  quality and efficiency of its energy sector, but certain types of power  sources still have their seasonal and regional supply tensions, Li Zhi,  lead supervisor at the National Energy Administration, said to CNR.  China still has much to do to transform the structure of its energy  sector toward the use of more clean energy, he added.

Editor: Emmi Laine