State councilor urges central SOEs to ensure power supply

BEIJING, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- State Councilor Wang Yong on Wednesday called on the country's centrally-administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to play an active role in ensuring the power supply.

Wang made the remarks during a symposium at the State Grid Corporation of China, the country's largest state-owned utility company.

The central SOEs should take various measures to increase the supply of coal and natural gas and ensure the generation of power, while taking the lead in stabilizing coal prices, Wang said.

He also called for efforts to ensure safety during production.

China has rolled out a series of measures to cope with a recent power crunch that led to power outages in some regions, including issuing emergency production qualifications to coal mines and deferring tax payments for coal-fired power companies.