China and Russian sign £500m nuclear deal

Chinese and Russian officials have signed a £500m (€630m) deal to have Russia build a nuclear fuel plant in China.

The deal was signed during a visit to Beijing by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Medvedev and his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, were on hand as the deal was signed in Beijing.

The deal calls for Russia to build a nuclear fuel enrichment plant and supply semi-enriched uranium worth at least £250m (€315m).

"It's a good addition to our presence in China,'' said Sergei Kiriyenko, chief of Rosatom, the Russian government-controlled nuclear equipment company.

Russia is looking to China as an important market for civilian nuclear technology as Beijing builds more nuclear power plants in an effort to curb the country’s rapid growth in the use of fossil fuels.

Earlier this year, a Russian company completed work on two 1,000-megawatt light-water reactors for China’s Tianwan nuclear power plant south of Shanghai