BEIJING: China said yesterday that it would finance a third of Britain’s first nuclear power plant in decades in a project led by French energy giant EDF that was confirmed on the second day of President Xi Jinping’s state visit.
The blockbuster deal was signed in the presence of Xi and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
The agreement for the 18 billion pounds (US$28 billion) project, which is due for completion in 2025, is expected to be finalized in the next few weeks, EDF said in a statement.
The French utility will construct two European Pressurised Reactors, a third-generation nuclear reactor design considered the most advanced and safest in the world, at the Hinkley Point C plant in Somerset, southwestern England.
The state-run China General Nuclear Corporation will finance 6 billion pounds of the sum, with EDF financing the remainder, according to its statement.
“We have all the conditions now in place, subject to final investment approval in the next few weeks, to go ahead with the project,” Vincent de Rivaz, head of EDF’s UK arm, told journalists.
The pair also reached agreement on a partnership to develop nuclear power stations at Sizewell, on the eastern English coast in Suffolk, and at Bradwell in Essex, southeastern England.
The Hinkley facility will not be operational until 2025 Ñ two years later than originally planned when the deal was first unveiled two years ago.
Britain has placed nuclear at the core of its low-carbon energy policy, in contrast to eurozone powerhouse Germany which has pledged to phase out nuclear power after Japan’s 2011 Fukushima disaster.
The Hinkley project would create over 25,000 jobs and power 6 million homes, according to Britain’s Department of Energy and Climate Change.
Meanwhile, Xi said yesterday that China had reduced capacity in its iron and steel industry and that he attached great importance to human rights.
“China’s iron and steel industry is also facing excess capacity,” Xi told reporters at a news briefing in Cameron’s Downing Street residence.
“China has taken a series of steps to reduce capacity,” Xi said via a translator.
UK-based steelmakers have announced several thousand layoffs in recent weeks in a crisis manufacturers blame on China selling steel at a loss on world markets to secure market share.
Challenged in the House of Commons to do more to support British steel, Cameron said the industry was in “a very difficult situation” because of oversupply and a collapse in world steel prices.
Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters in Beijing that “some disagreements or frictions” between economic partners were inevitable.
“The most important part is that both countries agree to properly handle these disagreements and frictions through discussion on the basis of equality and mutual benefit,” she said.
Xi said China attached “great importance” to the protection of human rights and had found a path of development suited to current conditions.
“Looking around the world, there is always room for improvement,” Xi said.
Xi has been welcomed with lavish ceremony on his visit, which began on Tuesday with a day of pomp that culminated in a banquet at Buckingham Palace.
Yesterday, he met members of the team behind hit British TV exports “Sherlock” and “Poldark” and action star Jackie Chan at an event celebrating Britain’s creative industries.
