State Grid Corp. of China has said it will increase the number of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations by 10 times in 2020 from last year’s level, pledging 2.7 billion yuan ($382 million) of investment as part of the government’s push to support high-tech infrastructure.

The country’s largest electricity distributor rolled out the plan in a virtual conference on Tuesday. According to the meeting, a total of 78,000 charging stations will be installed in 18 provincial regions, with 53,000 earmarked for local residential areas and 18,000 for public use.

Charging points for EVs have been categorized as part of “new infrastructure” projects which China announced in March with the aim of creating new momentum for economic development. Construction of fifth-generation telecom networks and data centers also fall under the category.

Other power groups have joined the high-profile investment scheme. China Southern Power Grid Co. Ltd. said on Friday that it will build stations with 380,000 charging points in the next four years through investment or acquisitions.

China has seen a sharp rise in the installation of charging stations for its fast-growing EV market in recent years. As of 2019, the nation had built more than 510,000 public charging points and 703,000 private ones, according to data from state-backed China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance (EVCIPA).

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Contact reporter Lu Yutong (yutonglu@caixin.com)