China Southern Power Grid vowed to reduce power fees by as much as 10.6 billion yuan ($1.51 billion) for general businesses and large industrial enterprises in the country, as part of the company's preferential measures for businesses that need support when resuming operations.

More than 7.6 million clients will be exempted from a five percent power fee of their total power consumption, which is expected to total 7.4 billion yuan, it said.

For small-and medium-sized enterprises that have difficulty operating due to the epidemic, the utility firm will also postpone charges for a specific period to ensure power supply for their recovery, in accordance with government regulations.

It will also remove the maximum electricity consumption cap required by existing charging contracts and will charge excess amounts separately.

To ensure electricity supply to medical institutions and other key clients on the front lines of epidemic prevention and control, the company earlier rolled out a slew of measures, including 24-hour power monitoring.