China is taking measures to speed up the reform of power industry to end monopoly and enhance the industry's overall competitiveness.
The reform will be implemented in three steps, mainly involving a separation of government administrative functions from power plants, separation of power plants from power grid runners and the introduction of a competitive pricing system.
The State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC) issued a circular Tuesday, urging all 31 provincial power bureaus to hand over their administrative functions to the local economic and trade commission by the end of this year.
So far, three power administrations in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Guangdong Province and the Hainan Province had been abolished and more will follow later in the year, said an official with the SETC.
The separation of power plants from power grid owners and the introduction of a pricing system will be first implemented in Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Zhejiang and Shandong provinces, as well as the municipality of Shanghai for trial purposes.
(Xinhua 11/21/2000)
