China's energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) edged up 0.8 percent in the first half of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Tuesday.

Energy consumption of per unit added value increased in coal mining, oil and petrochemical, non-ferrous metal and other industries, and dropped in steel, building materials, and chemical and textile industries, the NBS said.

The figures in the first six months sent a major challenge to China's economic planners, who had planned a 4-percent cut in the country's energy consumption per per unit of GDP this year, analysts here said.

Source: Xinhua