State Grid Corp of China (SGCC), the nation's largest electricity transmission company, yesterday launched a worldwide recruitment plan for its five research and development (R&D) institutes.

Under the plan, the company will recruit 100 top scientists for its R&D work, including four academicians.

The five R&D centers are China Electric Power Research Institute, Nanjing Automation Research Institute, Beijing Electric Power Construction Research Institute of SGCC, Wuhan High Voltage Research Institute of SGCC and State Power Economic Research Institute.

The five institutes now have 2,699 staff members, including four academicians.

"The move will increase the company's R&D capabilities. Last year, we made many breakthroughs in the R&D field," SGCC said in a statement.

The company last year started to build China's first ultra-high voltage (UHV) transmission line. The pilot project will see 1,000 kilovolts of alternating current linking the southeastern part of Shanxi Province with Jingmen city in Hubei Province, passing Nanyang city in Central China's Henan Province.