The State Grid Corp of China, the nation's largest utility by sales, said on May 27 it plans to seek private capital investment to establish a distributed power network and charging stations for electric vehicles. It's a step toward mixed ownership in state-monopolized industries.

State Grid representative Wang Yanfang said the company supports private capital in investing in distributed power generation connection projects, as it will develop the industry.

At the end of April, the company's grid-connected capacity of distributed power had reached 1.28 million kilowatts, among which distributed solar power accounted for 1.21 million kilowatts, according to the company.

The Chinese Government has shown a clear intention to open up state-owned enterprises to private investment. Sinopec announced in February it will sell up to 30 percent of its retail oil business to private investors.

PetroChina just said it will sell 100 percent of its pipeline assets valued at $6.3 billion to private investors.

The assets include the first and second west-east gas pipelines, which carry natural gas from Central Asian countries and China's energy-rich region of Xinjiang to the nation's eastern cities.