BEIJING -- China's trans-provincial electricity trade amounted to 546.45 billion kilowatt-hours (kwh) in the first three quarters, a rise of 14.1 percent year on year, according to a report released by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, trans-regional electricity transactions rose 21.1 percent year on year to reach 155.62 billion kwh in the period, said the report.

During the January-September period, China's cross-border electricity trade declined 4.05 percent year on year to 18.7 billion kwh, with imports up 8.16 percent and exports down 7.58 percent, according to the SERC.

China Southern Power Grid Co, the country's second-largest electricity distributor, transmitted 93.2 billion kwh of electricity from energy-rich western regions to eastern China during the first nine months, the report said.

China launched its west-east power transmission program in 2000 to transmit power from western regions to power-hungry eastern areas.