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Ahead of President Xi Jinping's visit to India next week, a top Chinese official has said that Beijing is interested in working with India in the field of civilian nuclear energy, suggesting that China is keen to sell its indigenously developed nuclear power reactors to India.
The Chinese government has recently launched a "going out" strategy for its major state-run nuclear companies, which are already involved in at least five reactor projects in Pakistan.
China last month signed two nuclear cooperation deals with Argentina and Romania, paving the way for exporting its technology - which China says is more cost-effective than American and French reactors, although developed in part using their designs - to Latin America and Europe. The possibility of India considering Chinese civilian nuclear technology, however, appears remote for now, with India in talks with France over a long-running deal and already working with Russia on projects.
China's Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Jianchao told reporters in Beijing in a briefing to preview Xi's visit that China and India "were interested in nuclear energy cooperation" and would act "in accordance with the international rules" as well as their respective interests.
Han Hua, the Director of the Center for Arms Control and Disarmament at the School of International Studies (SIS), Peking University and a foremost expert on China's nuclear programme, said that the Chinese nuclear industry was actively pursuing a going out strategy to find new markets, including India. "It is a concrete measure of the "outgoing" strategy of China's nuclear industry," Han said.
While China is constructing as many as 28 reactors at home, the Fukushima nuclear crisis in Japan prompted a slowdown and reconsideration of several future domestic projects.
China last year was keen for the inclusion of a reference to civilian nuclear cooperation in the joint statement issued when Premier Li Keqiang visited India in May. The statement said that "as large developing countries committed to promoting the use of clean energy, India and China believe that expansion of civil nuclear energy program is an essential component of their national energy plans to ensure energy security."
India has for its part expressed concern over China's sale of reactors to Pakistan, as some of the deals were agreed to after China joined the Nuclear Suppliers Group which prohibits members to transfer technology to countries that have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The India-U.S. nuclear deal was granted an exemption after India undertook a range of commitments. China has appeared to seek to assuage those concerns by now offering its technology to India.
The Chinese government has recently launched a "going out" strategy for its major state-run nuclear companies, which are already involved in at least five reactor projects in Pakistan.
China last month signed two nuclear cooperation deals with Argentina and Romania, paving the way for exporting its technology - which China says is more cost-effective than American and French reactors, although developed in part using their designs - to Latin America and Europe. The possibility of India considering Chinese civilian nuclear technology, however, appears remote for now, with India in talks with France over a long-running deal and already working with Russia on projects.
China's Assistant Foreign Minister Liu Jianchao told reporters in Beijing in a briefing to preview Xi's visit that China and India "were interested in nuclear energy cooperation" and would act "in accordance with the international rules" as well as their respective interests.
Han Hua, the Director of the Center for Arms Control and Disarmament at the School of International Studies (SIS), Peking University and a foremost expert on China's nuclear programme, said that the Chinese nuclear industry was actively pursuing a going out strategy to find new markets, including India. "It is a concrete measure of the "outgoing" strategy of China's nuclear industry," Han said.
While China is constructing as many as 28 reactors at home, the Fukushima nuclear crisis in Japan prompted a slowdown and reconsideration of several future domestic projects.
China last year was keen for the inclusion of a reference to civilian nuclear cooperation in the joint statement issued when Premier Li Keqiang visited India in May. The statement said that "as large developing countries committed to promoting the use of clean energy, India and China believe that expansion of civil nuclear energy program is an essential component of their national energy plans to ensure energy security."
India has for its part expressed concern over China's sale of reactors to Pakistan, as some of the deals were agreed to after China joined the Nuclear Suppliers Group which prohibits members to transfer technology to countries that have not signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The India-U.S. nuclear deal was granted an exemption after India undertook a range of commitments. China has appeared to seek to assuage those concerns by now offering its technology to India.
