BEIJING -- China vowed Wednesday that it would continue efforts to expand and upgrade its rural power grid networks in the next five years to meet the increasing demand.

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Safe, environmentally-friendly, and technologically-advanced rural power networks are expected to cover most of the nation's rural areas to ensure better electricity use for rural residents during the country's 12th Five-Year Plan period (2011-2015), according to a statement issued after a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao.

Full-fledged power networks are still beyond reach for some rural residents in China's central and western rural regions, despite government moves to expand rural networks beginning in 1998, the statement said.

Relevant departments should step up efforts to improve power generation facilities for irrigation and farm produce processing to ensure power consumption of agriculture production, the statement said.

Further, participants at the meeting also pledged to slash rural power prices.