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Updated Wednesday, September 22, 2010 8:44 pm TWN, AFP

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China nuclear firm unveils huge investment plan

BEIJING -- China's main nuclear power company plans to invest nearly US$120 billion to expand its business over the next decade, state media said Tuesday, amid efforts to boost renewable energy sources.

To fund the 800-billion-yuan spending spree, state-run China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC) intends to list its subsidiary, CNNC Nuclear Power Co Ltd, the China Daily said, citing senior officials from both companies.

“We plan to rope in strategic investors by the end of this year,” said Chen Hua, president of CNNC Nuclear Power Co Ltd.

“Our company will get ready for listing in the first half of next year,” Chen said, without specifying which stock market it was targeting.

A separate report on Tuesday said CNNC was in talks with Pakistan to build a one-gigawatt nuclear power plant in the South Asian country.

CNNC, which has already helped Pakistan build a civilian reactor at Chashma in Punjab province, is already finishing a second one there and has agreed contracts to build two others.

“Both sides are in discussions over the CNNC exporting a one-gigawatt nuclear plant to Pakistan,” company vice president Qiu Jiangang was quoted as saying by The Wall Street Journal.

Officials at CNNC had no immediate comment when contacted by AFP.

Beijing has stepped up investment in nuclear power in an effort to slash carbon emissions and reduce the nation's heavy reliance on coal, which accounts for 70 percent of its power needs but is highly polluting.

The world's second-largest economy, which outpaced Japan in the second quarter, aims to get 15 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2020.

Zhang Guobao, head of the National Energy Administration, said late last year that China had 11 nuclear power reactors in operation with a capacity of 9.1 gigawatts.

China aims to increase nuclear power capacity to 70-80 gigawatts by 2020, accounting for about five percent of the country's total installed power capacity, the report said, citing unidentified industry sources.

The government said previously the target was 40 gigawatts.

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