GUANGZHOU, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's southwestern Yunnan and Guizhou provinces agreed Monday to transmit 497 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity to the southern Guangdong Province over the next five years.

The agreements were signed Monday between the China Southern Power Grid Company (CSG) and the three provinces.

Due to a lack of resources such as coal and water, the relatively more developed eastern and southern regions in China face pressure of providing enough electricity to boost their growth.

"China's coal resources are mainly based in the west and north, while water is also abundant in the southwestern regions. The uneven situation makes it necessary to transmit power from the west to the east," said Qian Zhimin, deputy director of China's National Energy Administration.

Qian said China had initiated the west-to-east power transmission program back in 2000. By the end of this year, the CSG has transmitted over 543 billion kilowatt-hours of power through the program.

Guangdong, an economic powerhouse in south China, with a gross domestic product exceeding 3.9 trillion yuan (about 583.3 billion U.S. dollars) in 2009, has been the largest beneficiary of the program as almost 120 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity produced in other western provinces is used by Guangdong annually, making up about one-fourth of all the power it uses every year.

The CSG is one of China's two major grid operators, along with the State Grid. The CGS invests, builds, and operates power networks in Guangdong, Guizhou, Yunnan and Hainan provinces, and in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.