China grapples with worst power outages in decades

China on Thursday continued to grapple with its worst power outages in decades with several provinces ordering industries to cut down or even shut production and urging millions of residents to use electricity judiciously.

A number of provinces and regions including Liaoning and Jilin in northeast China, the trading powerhouse Guangdong in the south and Zhejiang in the east have been in the grip of power shortage for weeks now.

Central authorities are scrambling to deliver more coal to power plants to restore supply as three provinces in the northeast Liaoning, Heilongjiang and Jilin, the worst hit and home to nearly 100 million people, face long hours of power cuts.