The city government of Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, decided Thursday tostop all industrial production during the New Year vacation in order to save the electric power for civil use.

All 345 big and medium-sized industrial companies in the city were ordered to halt power-consuming production from Jan. 1 to 3, so the city won't have to impose a blackout.

The local government said Chengdu is encountering the most serious power shortage of the past 20 years due to the lack and the low quality of its coal.

The power shortfall is 12.2 million kilowatt-hours every day inthe city.

Source: Xinhua