BEIJING, May 14 -- Electric cars in China will consume around 60 billion kWh of electricity a year by 2020, according to a researcher from China's power grid network operator, State Grid Corp., on May 11.

The Chinese government has strengthened its efforts to promote electric cars in recent years. As technology develops, it hopes to increase the total number of electric cars in China to 30 million by 2020, said Guo Jiwei at the 5th Renewable Energy Finance Forum China held in Beijing.

As such, State Grid will focus on the construction of large electric car charging stations and smaller-scale charging spots over the next few years, Guo added.

According to a plan announced by State Grid in January this year, the company will build 75 public charging stations, 6,209 charging spots and a number of battery replacement stations in 2010 as part of its efforts to expand business in the renewable energy sector.