China's State Grid completes power grid construction in poverty-stricken regions

The State Grid Corporation of China said it completed the construction of the power grid program in poverty-stricken regions on Tuesday.

The program has boosted power services for some 17.77 million residents in 198 poor counties in the five provincial-level regions of Sichuan, Gansu, Qinghai, Xinjiang and Tibet, the company said.

From 2018 to 2020, the firm has completed 7,957 projects with a total investment of 30.4 billion yuan (about $4.31 billion) in these regions, where the power supply level is close to the national average in the first half of 2020.

It said farmers and herdsmen in poor regions were given the priority to participate in constructing these projects, which created 34,000 new jobs and attracted investment of 223 billion yuan in the construction and equipment manufacturing sectors.

In 2018, China launched a three-year plan to upgrade power grids in the country's poverty-stricken areas, while all tasks were fulfilled by the end of June, according to the National Energy Administration.