State Grid employees perform repairs on a transmission tower in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province, in July. [Photo by Yao Feng/For China Daily]
A total of 153,000 employees participated and 25,000 vehicles, 1,284 emergency power generator cars and 3,654 generators were deployed in the battle against the contagion, according to the company's press office.
As businesses nationwide began to resume operations in the second quarter, Xin said State Grid implemented several measures to support virus prevention and control as well as power supply.
As 2020 is a year marking a decisive victory in the elimination of poverty, he said poverty-alleviation projects have also been a focus of State Grid amid the outbreak. The company so far has helped facilitate sales of previously unsold agricultural products in Hubei valued at 123 million yuan ($17.85 million).
The new infrastructure has been a growth focus for China these years, and Xin said State Grid increased fixed-asset investment in the field of UHV, new energy automobile charging networks and digital infrastructure projects to 460 billion yuan. They are now expected to drive social investment of 900 billion yuan.
Among the investments, 181.1 billion yuan was allocated to UHV construction and 2.7 billion yuan went to charging piles.
Dong Yu, deputy dean of the China Institute for Development Planning at Tsinghua University in Beijing, said that apart from playing a vital role in assisting in China's battle against COVID-19, SOEs have actively participated in other activities, including stabilizing export and job markets, ensuring supply and industrial chains, as well as taking part in poverty alleviation and flood control efforts this year.
Eager to diversify its growth strength, State Grid has signed strategic agreements with 41 companies including Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, Alibaba Group, Tencent Holdings Ltd and Baidu Inc on ecological energy development.
Aside from taking the investment, construction and operation of power grids as its core business, State Grid also owns and operates overseas assets in the Philippines, Brazil, Portugal, Australia, Italy, Greece and elsewhere.
