China Economy Forum

[JSCh]

League of Legends studio is now completely owned by China’s Tencent

• Dean Takahashi and Jeff Grubb
  
• December 16, 2015 3:30 PM

Above: Welcome to the League of Legends jungle.
Image Credit: Riot Games​

Riot Games, the maker of the enormously popular League of Legends multiplayer online arena battler (MOBA), is now 100 percent-owned by China’s Tencent.

Los Angeles-based Riot Games made the announcement somewhat casually as part of a post about changes coming to Riot’s compensation structure. It made no mention of the cost of the transaction, as Tencent probably laid out a lot of money to acquire the remaining equity in Riot Games. League of Legends is often referred to by players and observers as the “biggest game in the world.” That’s because it regularly has millions of people playing it at any one time, but it’s also because the free-to-play PC hit makes approximately $1 billion annually from in-app purchases. That contributes to a MOBA market that generates more than $200 million in revenue every month, according to intelligence firm SuperData Research.

Riot Games was founded by Brandon Beck and Marc Merrill in 2006. They launched League of Legends in 2009 as something of a spiritual successor to the popular Warcraft 3 mod Defense of the Ancients. LoL, as fans commonly refer to it, became a huge hit. The game is one of the most-played PC online games of all time. Tencent bought a majority stake in Riot Games in 2011 for a reported $231 million. That gave the Chinese company an estimated 70 percent ownership of Riot.

The 9-year-old company is also well known for spending a great deal on its employees and taking its culture seriously. Riot has thousands of employees, and employee-review website Glassdoor called it one of the best places to work in the U.S., which is notable considering it is the only game developer on the list.

In its post, Riot said that it was shifting to a new structure to “recognize and reward Rioters’ contributions — and that first involves a big change to our existing equity program. As part of this effort, our majority investor, Tencent, recently purchased the remaining equity of Riot Games. This allows us to move away from a Riot equity program towards a cash-based incentive program that allows Rioters to share in Riot’s success.”

League of Legends studio is now completely owned by China's Tencent | GamesBeat | Games | by Dean Takahashi && Jeff Grubb

 

[JSCh]

China's share of global exports to reach 13% in 2015
China Daily, December 18, 2015

China is expected to account for 13 percent of the world's total exports this year as the country shipped more high-value products to both developed and emerging markets between January and November, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.

China's proportion of exports amounted to 12.4 percent of the global market last year. The country's exports of rail equipment, as well as power and telecommunications products to developed markets rose 10 percent year-on-year in the first 11 months.

Shen Danyang, spokesman for the ministry, said even though China's foreign trade seems weaker than expected due to lower global demand and rising production costs, the country has continued to optimize its range of products and approach to the global market through new trade routes and regional cooperation arrangements.

"The World Trade Organization's central role in global trade liberalization should be maintained," said Shen. "All members should stick to the Doha Round's goal to create a balanced and feasible work plan to complete the talks."

Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng told the WTO Ministerial Conference in Nairobi on Wednesday that the biggest challenges which currently confront the multilateral trade system are trade protectionism and a proliferation of regional trade agreements.

China's foreign trade dropped 7.8 percent year-on-year to 22.08 trillion yuan ($3.39 trillion) from January to November. Of this, 12.71 trillion yuan was exports, which were down 2.2 percent. The nation's trade surplus during the same period surged 63 percent to 3.34 trillion yuan, according to the General Administration of Customs.

The country reported 3.16 trillion yuan of trade with the European Union, its largest trading partner, in the first 11 months, down 7.7 percent year-on-year, while the figure was 3.15 trillion yuan for the United States, the nation's second-largest trading partner, up 1.9 percent.

"Based on the current trading volume, China will remain the world's largest trader this year," said Gu Xuebin, vice-president of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing.

 

[JSCh]

Retreat, regroup and rebound
China Daily 2015-12-18 09:14

There is good news and not-so-good news as we head into 2016.

The not-so-good news is that the world economy still lacks momentum, with global growth unlikely to pick up next year. We expect growth of 3 percent, the same as 2015. But the good news is that, despite the lack of momentum in the world economy, we expect confidence and market sentiment, particularly in emerging markets, to improve.

Emerging markets have been in retreat in 2015, but there are reasons to be cautiously optimistic in 2016. The two main reasons behind the negativity this year－the US Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate hikes and the risk of a "hard landing" in China's economy－should be much less of a concern in 2016. It is time to regroup.

We always thought the first Fed rate hike in nine-and-a-half years would be an event. We highlighted as far back as April 2015 that volatility in emerging markets would increase and that some currencies, like the Turkish lira, the Indonesian rupiah and the Brazilian real, would weaken. So the weakness and negativity we saw in the second half of 2015 did not come as a surprise.

With the first interest rate hike announced this week, we expect another hike to take place in March 2016. And that is it; we do not expect more rate rises in 2016. In fact, we anticipate that after March the Fed's next move will be to reduce interest rates, and we see this happening in December 2016.

We believe the hiking cycle will be shallow because, in our view, the US economy has already peaked. Consensus forecasts point to US growth at 2.5 percent next year, but these forecasts have been consistently wrong over the past six years, always overestimating growth prospects in the US. We are less optimistic, expecting the US economy to grow by 1.6 percent. If the anticipation of Fed hikes spooked markets in 2015, and rightly so, the realization that the hiking cycle will likely be very shallow by any historical standard should be positive for market sentiment.

China concerns also played a key role in keeping sentiment around emerging markets negative. Markets have behaved in a way consistent with a China "hard landing". In 2015, closer focus on certain proxies for China's economy suggested that growth was much slower than official data implied, hence the negativity.

But concerns were overdone and not fully justified. The proxies used by many were heavily biased towards the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing in China is indeed slowing; but the service sector is strong, and it is growing in importance, contributing more than 50 percent to the economy today. Looking at cement, electricity and railway cargo might have been a good proxy for growth five-10 years ago, when manufacturing dominated, but this is no longer the case. The structure of China's economy is changing.

Also, people should not underestimate the commitment of Chinese authorities to deliver growth rates close to 7 percent. Policymakers take every opportunity to remind us that they have an official target of doubling 2010 GDP by 2020. This requires an average annual growth rate of 7 percent. So far they are ahead of plan, and the Fifth Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China－which took place this autumn－set an average growth target of 6.5 percent for the next five years. We expect Chinese growth in 2016 to be 6.8 percent, giving the authorities room for possible deceleration in the future.

That is not to say that there are no risks. China's economy is becoming more complex. Gradually opening up to international markets by liberalizing the capital account will make the economy harder to manage than in the past, especially given high domestic debt levels. But policymakers have tools at their disposal.

Global growth has never really taken off since the global financial crisis. As 2016 is unlikely to be any different, it is hard to get too excited about the economic prospects. The silver lining is that confidence and market sentiment should improve.

 

[JSCh]

China approving 40 nuclear reactor construction starts from 2016 to 2020 for an average of eight per year

Chinese nuclear power generators rose in Hong Kong and Shanghai after the State Council approved the construction of four additional reactors on Wednesday

China has approved construction of eight reactors this year, including yesterday’s approval. China plans to build as many as eight nuclear power plants each year from 2016 to 2020 and invest 500 billion yuan ($77 billion) on next-generation nuclear reactors during the five years, according to a statement from state-owned Power Construction Corp. of China Ltd. earlier this month, citing a draft of China’s 13th five-year plan.

​

Among the four reactors approved, two at Guangxi’s Fangchenggang will use CGN’s own Hualong One third-generation technology, according to a CGN statement. That is the same model expected to be exported for the Bradwell project in the U.K., to be built under an agreement between CGN and Electricite de France SA for a 1 gigawatt plant.

The cabinet also gave the go-ahead for a hydropower plant straddling the southwestern provinces of Sichuan and Yunnan.

Mainland China has 30 nuclear power reactors in operation, 21 under construction, and more about to start construction.

Additional reactors are planned, including some of the world's most advanced, to give more than a three-fold increase in nuclear capacity to at least 58 GWe by 2020-21, then some 150 GWe by 2030, and much more by 2050.

India Governments nuclear energy target for 2020

India's government said 13,500 megawatts of nuclear power will be operating by 2020.

India currently has 5,300 megawatts of nuclear power.

Currently the top countries based on operable nuclear power generation are

United States 98990 MWe [798.6 TWh in 2014]
France 63130 MWe [418.0 TWh ijn 2014]
Japan * 40480 MWe [Most of the reactors are currently not operating, 0 TWh]
China 26849 MWe [123.8 TWh in 2014]
Russia 25264 MWe [169.1 TWh in 2014]
South Korea 21677 MWe [149.2 TWh in 2014]

Next Big Future: China approving 40 nuclear reactor construction starts from 2016 to 2020 for an average of eight per year

 

[JSCh]

China welcomes U.S. ratification of IMF quota reforms

• Xinhua
• 2015-12-19 13:32

China's central bank on Saturday welcomed the ratification of the 2010 quota and governance reforms of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by the U.S. Congress on Dec. 18, 2015.

"Such approval means that the 2010 reforms, after protracted delay, are expected to take effect soon," said the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank, noting "the 2010 reforms will enhance the representativeness and voice of emerging market and developing countries (EMDCs) at the IMF, thus helps maintain the IMF's credibility, legitimacy and effectiveness."

Going forward, China will work closely with other member countries to support the IMF to continuously improve its quota and governance structure, to ensure that the IMF remains a quota-based and adequately resourced institution, according to the PBOC.

"The 2010 reforms will double the IMF's quota resources from SDR 238.5 billion to SDR 477 billion, while shifting 6 percent of quota shares to dynamic EMDCs. China's quota will increase from 3.996 percent to 6.394 percent, making China the third largest shareholder in the IMF from the sixth." The PBOC said in a statement posted on its official website.

Created by the IMF in 1969, the Special Drawing Rights (SDR) is an international reserve asset supplementing members' official reserves. It can be exchanged among governments for freely usable currencies in times of need.
______________________________________________________________________

Also from Sputnik,

• US Caves In to Emerging Markets as Congress Finally Makes IMF Reforms

 

[Martian2]

Qualcomm Losing 4G Market Share to MediaTek | BidNessEtc

It took four years for Taiwan's MediaTek to finally make headway in the 4G market. Qualcomm had a 90% market share for four long years (reference: Qualcomm Announces Availability Of Next Gen LTE Chipset - Gobi 4000; Likely For 4G LTE iPhone And iPad).

Now, MediaTek has increased its share of the 4G market from 10% to 17% in just one year. Consequently, Qualcomm's 4G market share fell from 90% to 67% in one year (2014 Q3 to 2015 Q3).

By the way, China's Spreadtrum has achieved dominant 3G market share in China.
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Qualcomm, Inc (QCOM) Losing 4G Market Share to MediaTek

 

[TaiShang]

China-Australia, China-South Korea FTAs Take Effect Today

2015-12-20

The much-heralded Free Trade Agreement between China and Australia is officially in-effect as of this Sunday.

Under the agreement, tariffs on 95 percent of Australian exports are being lifted.

At the same time, hurdles are being lowered for Chinese businesses to invest in Australia.

Chinese travelers are going to be granted more access to the country through an increased number of visas.

For more on the China-Australia FTA, CRI's Zeng Liang spoke earlier with Professor James Laurenceson, Deputy Director of the Australia-China Institute at the University of Technology in Sydney.

China-South Korea FTA Comes into Force

The new free trade agreement between China and South Korea has officially come into effect as of today.

Park Tae Ho with Seoul National University says the signing of the free-trade pact makes sense for South Korea at this point in its development.

"With impressive achievements though, the South Korean economy only accounts for 1.8 percent of the global total. South Korea won't be able to lift its per capita income to 30,000 US dollars by relying on domestic market only. It should go global and exploit broader export markets. So it's a necessary choice for us to establish FTA."

As part of the agreement, tariffs on more than 90 percent goods traded between China and South Korea will be eliminated over the next 20-years.

South Korean analysis suggests the country's manufacturers are going to see their overall export growth increase by 1.35-billion U.S. dollars over the next 12-months.

China is South Korea's largest trading partner, with South Korea importing around one-quarter of all their products from China.

***

 

[JSCh]

Interview: Sri Lanka mulls special zone for Chinese investment

• English.news.cn | 2015-12-19 11:29:23 | Editor: huaxia
• by Jamila Najmuddin

COLOMBO, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lankan is considering a special zone in the southern part for Chinese investors as China looks to expand its investment in the island nation, a top official said.

Chairman of the Board of Investments (BoI) Upul Jayasuriya said the government had decided to set up the zone in the southern town of Hambantota.

Sri Lanka has already conveyed its decision to China and is now awaiting a response.

"The government has decided that we will open the gates for the Chinese to make their investment particularly at the moment as it is in Hambantota. " Jayasuriya said in an interview to Xinhua.

According to the BoI chairman, Hambantota is a city which already has a harbor and an international airport. "So we feel that is a suitable venue for the Chinese investment to come up," he said.

"This is the correct time for China to come here as whatever is available at very cheap, cost effective prices," said Jayasuriya. "Not only the labor rate, but the salaries and the cost of doing business here are much cheaper than the entire region. So I hope the Chinese investors will make use of this opportunity."

China has been Sri Lanka's biggest contributor of foreign direct investment with over 400 million U.S. dollars in 2014, according to statistics from the Central Bank.

Over the past five years, a large number of Sri Lanka's infrastructure and real estate projects have been developed by China and the government of President Maithripala Sirisena is now eager to attract more direct investment from China.

"Sri Lanka-China relations are right now at its peak," Jayasuriya said. "The BoI has been working with many Chinese investors and in the recent past there has been a lot of Chinese interest in Sri Lanka."

"We look forward to working with them," he said.

The Colombo Port City, one of the mega projects funded by China which was suspended by the Sirisena government in March, has received clearance and will resume construction early next year.

Jayasuriya said the Port City will be a face-lifting project for Colombo.

"I can assure with confidence that the Port City will recommence its operation before March," he said. "This project will also add a lot of color and tourist attractions and the entire world will be looking at it as this will be the first ever of its kind in the recent past."

Sri Lanka is now being labelled as an investor friendly nation as the constitution guarantees that no investment is liable to be taken off by the government, particularly countries that have investment protection agreements with the island nation.

The government is now working to further strengthen the constitutional clauses in a positive manner, enabling more investors to come in, Jayasuriya said.

China is one of the countries that has signed the investment protection agreement with Sri Lanka.

Furthermore, Jayasuriya said any investor who is willing to invest more than 14 million U.S. dollars could buy and own properties in the country and for investors who require land on a lease-hold basis, the special tax would been reduced from 15 percent to 1 percent.

"This is the same that is expected by any local investor when they lease out land. These two major obstacles have now been removed."

The BoI has signed agreements for foreign direct investment of 1.6 billion U.S. dollars so far this year. The agency said improved facilitation under the new government which is committed to speeding up project approvals and eliminating delays had yielded high value projects.

The Sri Lankan government is also aiming to attract more investment from countries in the region, such as India and Pakistan.

 

[JSCh]

Young, affluent, e-savvy consumers fuel growth
By Zheng Yangpeng (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2015-12-21 15:19

Three "great forces" are defining China's consumer story in the next five years, which requires companies to have a "new China playbook" to grab the tremendous opportunities, according to a research by Boston Consulting Group.

The three are: The rise of upper-middle-class and affluent households as the driver of consumption growth; a new generation of freer-spending, sophisticated consumers; and increasingly powerful role of e-commerce, according to the research, which was jointly conducted by AliResearch, the research arm of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.

The research estimated that by 2020, 81 percent of consumption growth will come from households whose annual income will be more than $24,000. Consumer 35 or younger will account for 35 percent of growth. E-commerce will become a far more important retail channel, driving 42 percent of total consumption growth, 90 percent of that growth will come from mobile e-commerce.

Types of products fuelling China's consumer boom will also change. Service will overtake goods as the chief engine, accounting for 51 percent of total incremental consumption; Demand for premier goods and services that enhance a personal sense of well-being—such as healthy food, education, travel, rather than daily necessities --will accelerate.

According to Taobao, Alibaba's main online platform, spending by the average e-shoppers of organic and imported food and beverage has expanded eightfold over the past three years. Many popular online offerings, such as organic baby-food, rice, and tea, aren't carried in local stores.

The study also found Chinese consumers buy higher-priced products online. Overall consumption of home care products, packaged food, personal-care items increase only moderately when households become more affluent.

But according to Taobao data, online purchase on these categories increases by around 150 percent when families enter the upper-middle class. Online purchase nearly double again among affluent households ---that's because they find more distinctive, more premium-priced products online.

The report noted that because of the dramatic change in consumption habits, the winning strategy of the past is becoming outdated. It would be more important than ever before for companies to be highly strategic in the way they pick targets.

"The days are over when demand in China for everything seemed insatiable," said Youchi Kuo a principal of BCG. "Targeting the wrong income segment, playing in the wrong categories, and being unrepresented in the fast-growing online channel will be a formula for slow growth."

The report also projected China's consumer economy to expand by about half, to $6.5 trillion, by 2020---even if annual real GDP growth slows to 5.5 percent. The incremental growth of $2.3 trillion growth alone over the next five years would be comparable to adding a consumer market 1.3 times larger than today's Germany or the United Kingdom.

 

[Martian2]

Next Big Future: Revisiting when China's economy will pass the USA

 

[bobsm]

China's electronics, IT manufacturing industry grows fast
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2015-12-21 13:25

BEIJING - The added value of China's electronics and IT manufacturing industry rose by 10.8 percent year on year from January to November in 2015, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The statistics only covered the enterprises whose annual business revenue each exceeds 20 million yuan ($3.09 million).

The growth rate was 4.7 percentage points higher than the average level of the country's entire industrial sector in the period.

According to the ministry, the electronics and IT manufacturing industry reported 8.89 trillion yuan in bulk business revenue in the first ten months of the year, up 8 percent from a year ago, with its net profits surging 14.4 percent to 403.7 billion yuan.

China's electronics, IT manufacturing industry grows fast - Business - Chinadaily.com.cn

 

[TaiShang]

China's M&A in Asia Pacific to Hit New Heights in 2016: Reuters
2015-12-23

Latest figures show that Chinese acquisitions in the Asia-Pacific region push the value of annual deals past 1 trillion U.S. dollars. [Photo: sina.com]

New stats are suggesting Chinese acquisitions in the Asia-Pacific region have helped push the value of annual deals past one trillion U.S. dollars for the first time.

The same set of data also shows Chinese companies have spent a record 102-billion U.S. dollars on mergers and acquisitions so far this year.

Analysis by Reuters is suggesting investment banks expect this coming year to see an even bigger splurge by Chinese firms.

 

[Martian2]

Volume still rising at China’s top ports | IHS

With the sharp drop in commodity prices, we cannot use the dollar value as a measure of trade volume. Instead, we have to resort to a direct count of shipping containers.

IHS reports that China's trade volume has increased by 4% from Jan-Nov 2015.

We know that China's aggregate technology improves every year (such as using more industrial robots and CNC machine tools). Let's throw in another 2% in economic growth for improved technology.

We also know China improves its energy efficiency every year (such as building more ultra-supercritical coal-fired power plants). Let's say improved energy efficiency leads to a 1% growth in the Chinese economy.

Altogether, it is entirely reasonable to believe China's claim of 7% economic growth (e.g. 4% increased trade [or economic activity] + 2% improved technology + 1% economic efficiency).
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Volume still rising at China’s top ports | JOC.com

 

[JSCh]

Food giant COFCO fully acquires Noble Agri
2015-12-23 17:16:12

BEIJING, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's state-owned foodstuff conglomerate COFCO Corp. announced Wednesday that it will fully acquire Noble Agri from Hong Kong energy and commodity company Noble Group.

In an agreement signed Tuesday, COFCO agreed to buy Noble Agri's 49 percent stake, held by Noble Group, for 750 million U.S. dollars.

As COFCO already acquired a 51-percent stake in Noble Agri in 2014, the mainland agriculture company will fully own Noble Agri upon the completion of the transaction.

"Noble Agri will serve as COFCO's overseas arm, which is expected to help connect grain purchase in the upstream of the industry with processing and distribution in the downstream," said a COFCO statement.

COFCO chair Frank Gaoning Ning said the acquisition will accelerate COFCO's internationalization and global positioning.

"COFCO is fully confident in the new management team and still bullish on the long-term performance upon the integration of Noble Agri into COFCO despite the depressed global agricultural commodity market," said Ning.

"The consolidation of our ownership is a strong step toward our guiding vision: To be a world class global agri-business," said Matt Jansen, CEO of Noble Agri.

By the end of 2014, Noble Agri delivered 46 million tonnes of agricultural products globally, with 45 asset locations and about 9,500 employees in 29 countries.

Editor: Hou Qiang​

 

[JSCh]

Sitework of Baganuur Power Plant being executed by Chinese company
Dec 24, 2015 | Written by B.Amarsaikhan

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ Official opening ceremony for site work commencement of Baganuur Power Plant took place on December 23. The development is reflected in the Government Action Plan for 2012-2016 in order to meet the increasing electric and heating power demand in the central region.

“This is the first power plant in Mongolia to be built on the neck of a deposit”, PM Ch.Saikhanbileg stated while taking part in the ceremony.

In frames of the Government’s energy policy, more developments including Booroljuut power plant based on Booroljuut coal deposit, Tavantolgoi Power Plant based on the Tavantolgoi deposit and Eg Power Plant basing on Eg river are expected next.

The site work is being executed by China Nuclear Industry 22 Corporation. The 700 MWT TPA power plant will be commissioned in 3.5 years.

Recently commissioned Amgalan Power Plant and the extension at Third Thermal Power Station had been executed in cooperation with the Chinese companies as well. The Chinese companies are also taking part in the developments at the Eg river and Booroljuut power plants.

Baganuur Power LLC signed a Build-Operate-Transfer concession agreement with the Government last April. With the implementation of Baganuur Power Plant project, 300 permanent jobs and 2,500 temporary workplaces are being created.

Present at the ceremony were also Ministry of Energy of Mongolia D.Zorigt, Minister of Industry D.Erdenebat and the Ambassador of People’s Republic of China Xing Haiming.

*****
6th Chinese-built hydropower plant in Cambodia begins operation
2015-12-23 15:35:56 | Editor: huaxia

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen (2nd L, front) and Shi Ke (3rd L, front), vice chairman of China National Machinery Industry Corporation, attend the ribbon-cutting ceremony during the inauguration of the 246-megawatt Tatay River Hydropower Plant in Koh Kong province, Cambodia, Dec. 23, 2015. The sixth Chinese-built hydropower plant went into operation here Wednesday after five years of construction. (Xinhua/Phearum)​

KOH KONG, Cambodia, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- The sixth Chinese-built hydropower plant went into operation here Wednesday after five years of construction.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Bu Jianguo jointly inaugurated the plant in the southwest part of the country.

The 246-megawatt Tatay River Hydropower Plant was developed by the China National Heavy Machinery Corporation at a cost of 540 million U.S. dollars under a contract of a 42-year build-operate-transfer (BOT) with the Cambodian government.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Hun Sen said the plant would contribute to developing the economy and reducing poverty.

"It will increase the supply capacity and reduce the price of electricity in Cambodia," he said.

The prime minister expressed sincere thanks to the Chinese government for encouraging its investors to Cambodia.

According to the Ministry of Mines and Energy, Chinese firms have invested over 1.6 billion U.S. dollars to build six dams with a combined capacity of 928 MW in the Southeast Asian nation.

To date, all of them are fully operational.

*****
China inks nuclear power partnership deal with Thailand
English.news.cn 2015-12-24 15:24:34

GUANGZHOU, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- China and Thailand reached an agreement Wednesday to cooperate on a nuclear power project in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) announced on Thursday.

According to the agreement, CGN, Guangxi Investment Group Co. Ltd., and Thailand's Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Public Company Limited (RATCH), a subsidiary of the state-owned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, will team up to establish a joint venture to develop, construct and operate the second phase of the nuclear power plant in Fangchenggang City.

The project is a pilot site for Hualong One nuclear power technology, the country's third-generation nuclear reactor design, which was jointly designed by CGN and China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC).

Rum Herabat, chief executive officer of RATCH, said the project has the support of the Thai government. He said he hopes cooperation with China will help Thailand train talent and gain experience in nuclear power development.

The project will also serve as a bridgehead for China's nuclear power technology to expand in the ASEAN market.