JINAN, April 21 (Xinhua) -- East China's Shandong Province will invest 300 million yuan (47.6 million U.S. dollars) this year to construct and upgrade the power grid in poverty-stricken areas.

A total of 646 impoverished villages will benefit from the project, according to State Grid Shandong Electric Power Company.

The fund will be used to provide more stable power supply for people living in the most poverty-stricken areas, to help them develop agriculture and promote rural tourism.

To address problems like low voltage and insufficient supply, the central government started electricity power grid upgrades in rural areas in 2016 to ensure stable nationwide coverage by 2020.

At the end of 2017, China had upgraded the power grid in 78,533 villages, according to the National Energy Administration.