BEIJING — China's State Grid said on April 3 it will strengthen the construction of power supply facilities in tandem with the country's efforts to deploy "new infrastructure" projects to offset the economic impact of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The State Grid Corporation of China will closely track progress on new infrastructure projects and further improve the electricity business environment while fully considering new power demand driven by these projects.

Meanwhile, the company urged more efforts to prompt the construction of ultra-high-voltage power projects, accelerate the broader application of modern information and communication technology, and boost new energy vehicle (NEV) charging business.

Data from the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance showed that by January 2020, the country had built a total of 531,000 public charging poles and 712,000 private ones with every 3.5 NEVs owning one charging facility on average.

The alliance anticipated another 373,000 private charging poles, 156,000 public charging poles as well as 12,000 public charging stations to be built in 2020.