China's top banking and insurance regulator has released a circular on strengthening financial support for coal and electricity production and maintaining order in the commodity market.

The China-Laos railway station in the Lao capital Vientiane made its debut on Wednesday.

Chinese border railway port boosts coal imports amid power shortage

Electrical consumption reached more than 525.27 billion kilowatt-hours in the first eight months this year, up 17.33 percent year-on-year.

At the same time, the supply of hydropower and wind power decreases in winter, and cannot fill the gap left by the reduction in thermal power.

China will take key measures to ensure stable energy supplies this winter and next spring, the country's top economic regulator said on Wednesday.

The volume jumped 42.9 percent compared with the 2019 level, putting the average Jan-Aug growth for 2020 and 2021 at 19.5 percent.

Work teams have been dispatched to Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, eastern Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang and Hunan, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said.