China, the world's second-largest energy user after the U.S., reduced the shortfall in electricity supplies in the first seven months as power producers expanded capacity and state curbs to prevent excess investment took hold.

Electricity demand gained 15.7 percent to 1.82 billion megawatt hours, with production climbing 16.5 percent to 1.78 billion megawatt-hours, the Beijing-based China Electricity Council said in a statement on its Web site yesterday. A year ago, the shortfall was more than 50 million megawatt-hours.

China, the largest producer of so-called greenhouse gases, has asked banks to restrict loans to energy-intensive industries to cut waste and pollution. A fourth year of blackouts in 2006 prompted electricity companies to add plants and power lines.

``Power shortages have been greatly mitigated after the central government limited investment in high-energy consumption industries,'' Yan Haojun, a power analyst with Shanghai Securities Co., said by telephone today. ``Given the power units likely to come on stream in the coming months, the country will probably end four years of power shortages this year.''

China added 47.30 million kilowatts of power capacity and 15,214 kilometers (9,455 miles) of power transmission lines with capacity of 220 kilo voltage or higher during the period, the council, which represents 194 industry members, said in yesterday's statement.

Smaller Operators

The council's production figures cover power plants with capacity of at least 6,000 kilowatts and exclude the contribution to supplies from smaller operators. One megawatt-hour can power 3,500 watt air conditioner for almost 12 days.

China will enforce more strictly this year measures aimed at reducing energy consumption, Deputy Central Bank Governor Wu Xiaoling said Jan. 26. Share sales of power stations, smelters and cement plants will require the approval of the environmental agency, the government said yesterday.

Premier Wen Jiabao has set a target of cutting the amount of energy consumed to produce each unit of gross domestic product by 20 percent in the five years ending 2010.

China overtook the U.S. last year to become the biggest emitter of carbon-dioxide gases from burning fossil fuels and producing cement, according to the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency.