Chinese Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan has called on the country's power sector to draw a lesson from the blackouts in the United States and Canada earlier this month and improve its rapid-reaction mechanism and security measures, to ensure the security of power supplies.

The vice premier made the remarks during his recent inspection tour of the power transmission project in Yunnan Province, southwest China, part of the program to transmit power from resources-rich west China to eastern regions.

China's power production and supply sector should improve their reliability in power production and transmission, as well as in corporate management, so as to ensure the smooth operation of the country's power system, said the vice premier.

He called on the state-owned companies in charge of power grid operation to quicken the pace in reform and provide better services for power producers and consumers.

Many areas in eastern and southern China had to introduce restrictions on the consumption of power due to power shortages earlier this year.

The country's economy has been growing at an annual average rate of 8 percent in recent years, outstripping the supply of power.

(Xinhua News Agency August 23, 2003)