China is looking to improve its power grid infrastructure over the next five years with an investment of at least CNY2 trillion ($313bn).

Citing a report published on the National Energy Administration (NEA) site, China Electric Power News said that the funding will be used to double the length of high-voltage transmission lines in next five years to 1.01 million km, reported Reuters.

The 2015-2020 investment plan is also expected to strengthen sectors such as copper. About half of estimated 8.7 million tons of copper consumption in China was used by the power projects in 2014.

The country is considering upgrading its cross-country power transmission capacity in order to help energy producers in resource-rich far western part to supply the surplus power to eastern coast.

Surplus power from low demand western part will be supplied to western region of the country through the cross-country power lines, to help the region reduce dependency on coal.

China has already built ultra-high voltage power lines to connect the giant thermal power and hydroelectric stations in the west to eastern coastal regions of the country.

According to government newspaper, China is also planning to make prices more flexible to accommodate the dynamic costs and demand.

The government is also planning to launch spot electricity trading platforms to enable generators and users to set their own tariffs, which are currently set by the state.