China Power Market Trading Volume Up 19.2% in Jan-Aug

The growth in China's power trading, especially the faster rise in intra-provincial trades, points to deepening market-based allocation of electricity within provinces. This matters for efforts to integrate renewables and manage grid balancing, as more transactions are priced rather than dispatched administratively. The slower growth in inter-provincial trades suggests barriers to wider regional market integration remain. Whether intra-provincial momentum continues and whether inter-provincial volumes accelerate are the open questions for gauging power market reform progress.