Chinese and French companies signed an agreement on Oct 21 to build a British nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point in southwestern England.

According to the agreement signed by China General Nuclear Power Corp (CGN) and Electricite de France (EDF), the CGN-led Chinese consortium takes a 33.5 percent stake and EDF takes 66.5 percent in the Hinkley Point C nuclear power project.

He Yu, chairman of CGN, told Xinhua that the deal would promote the exportation of Chinese nuclear facilities to high-end markets in Europe and provide opportunities for Chinese companies to get fully involved in the development of Britain’s nuclear power industry.

He attributed the company’s participation in the project to the increasingly close economic and trade ties between the two countries.

“As political mutual trust and economic partnership develop, I believe more breakthroughs will be seen in cooperation in the nuclear power industry of the two countries,” he said.

The Chinese investment will step up the construction of the project and strongly help Britain in developing clean energy and ensuring energy supply, he added.

The power station, with two reactors, will have a total capacity of 3.3 GW, which is expected to be the largest output by a single plant in Britain.

CGN’s talents, technology and industry chain will promote the industrial development, create jobs and enhance personnel training for the British side, he said.