China has invested 160 billion yuan (US$19.3 billion) in the past three years into renovating the electric power network in rural areas, and has "remarkably improved living conditions of farmers," said Minister of State Development Planning Commission Zeng Peiyan Sunday.
During that period, more than 1,100 110-kilovolt and in excess of 5,600 35-kilovolt transformer substations have been built in rural areas, according to statistics from the commission.
By the end of last month, 87 percent of the country's 1,345 counties had set up new electricity supply systems, guaranteeing that electricity reaches households directly from county-level power supply enterprises.
The new electricity management system helps lower the price of power and encourages power consumption in rural areas, Zeng said at a national meeting on rural power network construction.
Power price cuts have been introduced in rural areas in the past few years, lightening the burden of farmers and saving 30 billion yuan (US$3.6 billion) each year, Zeng said. Thanks to the improvement of rural power networks, sales of electrical household appliances have seen a great surge in rural areas.
In the past, Chinese farmers usually had to pay much higher prices for electricity. This is because of the relatively higher costs in supplying far-flung rural areas compared to densely-populated cities.
The reduction of electricity prices in rural areas is expected to encourage farmers to use more household electric appliances and give a boost to the domestic consumption market.
(China Daily 08/27/2001)
