The central government will invest 2 billion yuan (US$240 million)
to help light up hundreds of rural townships with electricity this
year.
An
unnamed official at the State Development Planning Commission
(SDPC) said the power infrastructure investment scheme would
provide electricity to 362 underdeveloped townships.
The investment is part of a central government scheme launched last
year.
It
aims to provide all of the country's rural townships with
electricity by the end of this year.
Residents in China's vast western regions have little access to
electricity due to the inadequate transport system and their
distance from the power network.
Official statistics showed that, last year, about 30 million people
in 1,061 townships did not have access to electricity, mainly in
remote areas of the Tibet Autonomous Region, Sichuan, Qinghai and
Gansu provinces and the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
The SDPC, with central government backing, had invested 2.6 billion
yuan (US$313 million) in 699 townships by the end of last year.
It
also supported the construction of 585 solar power stations and 114
small hydropower stations.
The official said the investment scheme only covers rural
townships.
"Many people in villages still cannot benefit from the plan," said
the official, who wished to remain anonymous.
He
predicted that around 18,000 villages are still waiting for
electricity.
(China Daily February 11, 2003)