Energy companies in China had to cut off power to selected industrial consumers as the high price of fuels had pushed the firms to ration power supplies. Coal prices have recently risen to a record high. Power demand has skyrocketed with China's economic recovery. The energy crisis has hit many countries around the globe, but so far only China has reported widespread power outages. Theoretically, they had time to prepare as global economic projections at the end of 2020 had forecast China to be the country with the strongest growth in 2021.