The transmission line, expected to supply 110-130 million kilowatt hours of electricity to Vietnam annually, was officially inaugurated Tuesday in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province in southwest China.

    Yuan Maozhen, chairman of the China Southern Power Grid Company, said the transmission line will go a long way in promoting bilateral economic and trade ties.

    Construction of the power transmission line, the largest cross-border power line to be undertaken by China, began in February this year.

    It is part of a 500 million U.S. dollar power supply contract signed in October 2005 between the China Southern Power Grid and the state-owned Electricity of Vietnam (EVN).

    The contract stipulates that the Chinese firm will supply electricity to the six provinces in northern Vietnam for at least 10 years.

    By the end of August this year, China Southern Power Grid had supplied 1.01 billion kilowatt hours of electricity to Vietnam, using three 110 kilovolt transmission lines, Yuan said.

    The company is already building the second 220 kilovolt power transmission line to supply power to Vietnam, which is expected tobe operational by April 2007.

    Another 550 kilovolt transmission line is also being planned.

    According to Yuan, his company is also involved in the building of generation and transmission facilities in Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and other countries in the Mekong River valley.

    Cross-border cooperation for the development and distribution of the rich hydropower resources in the Mekong River valley will contribute to the development and prosperity of the countries in the region, he said. Enditem