China’s power consumption may rise by 3 percent in the final quarter, down from a 3.9 percent increase for the first three quarters, an industry association forecast on Nov 2.

Power consumption is expected to rise by 3.5 to 4 percent for the whole of 2014, the China Electricity Council (CEC) said in a statement on its website.

The CEC based its judgment on the slowdown in economic growth as well as the country’s efforts to save energy, cut emissions and protect the environment.

China’s gross domestic product expanded by 7.3 percent year on year in the third quarter, compared with 7.5 percent in the second quarter and 7.4 percent in the first, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

The GDP growth for the July-September period marked the slowest quarterly growth since the first quarter of 2009.