Prevailing mood of China? Cut power off first! (7)

I believe the answer is:

climate

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'prevailing mood' is the definition.
'climate' can be an answer for 'mood' (synonyms). I am unsure of the 'prevailing' bit.

'china? cut power off first' is the wordplay.
'china?' becomes 'mate' (china plate is Cockney rhyming slang for mate).
'cut power off' becomes 'cli' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'first' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'mate' put after 'cli' is 'CLIMATE'.

'of' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for climate that I've seen before include "Prevailing weather conditions" , "Atmosphere" , "Prevailing trend" , "General weather conditions in an area" , "Cite Mal (anag.)" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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