Hong Kong Stock Concept Tracking | 8 Nuclear Power Units Approved to Accelerate Large-scale Domestic Nuclear Power Development (with concept stocks)
The Zhitong Finance App has learned that China's approved and newly built nuclear power projects continue to expand. Recently, the executive meeting of the State Council decided to approve four nuclear power projects in Zhejiang, Guangdong, Liaoning and Shandong, with a total of 8 units. This is the first nuclear power project approved in 2026, and it is also the first batch of nuclear power projects approved during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period. Relevant sources believe that the development of nuclear power can further improve the domestic power industry chain, drive the development of upstream and downstream industries, support the smooth operation of the power system, help achieve the dual-carbon target, and accelerate the large-scale development of domestic nuclear power.
Premier Li Qiang of the State Council presided over an executive meeting of the State Council on July 31. The conference emphasized the need to effectively expand domestic demand, seize areas with great potential and strong momentum, launch a number of powerful measures, speed up the implementation of major projects determined in the “15th Five-Year Plan”, and steadily advance the “Six Networks” plan and construction. The meeting decided to approve four nuclear power projects, including the Zhuanghe Phase I project in Liaoning. The conference pointed out that it is necessary to build and operate nuclear power units in accordance with the world's highest safety standards, consolidate the main responsibilities of relevant units, strengthen safety supervision in all areas of the entire chain, and ensure that nuclear power safety is foolproof.
The new projects approved at the National Assembly this time include the Zhejiang Jinqimen Nuclear Power Phase II Project (units 3 and 4), the Guangdong Taipingling Nuclear Power Phase III Project (units 5 and 6), the Liaoning Zhuanghe Nuclear Power Phase I Project (Units 1 and 2), and the Shandong Caiyang Nuclear Power Phase I Project (Units 1 and 2), with a total of 8 new units. Nuclear power projects have always been an important driving force for expanding effective investment. According to market estimates, the total investment in these new projects will exceed 170 billion yuan.
The eight units approved this time were invested in construction and operation by three domestic nuclear power giants separately. Among them, CNNC is responsible for investing in the construction and operation of Zhejiang Jinqimen Nuclear Power Phase II and Liaoning Zhuanghe Nuclear Power Phase I projects; CGN invests in the construction and operation of Guangdong Taipingling Nuclear Power Phase III; and Shandong Laiyang Nuclear Power Phase I is invested and operated by the China Power Investment Corporation.
In the year the “15th Five-Year Plan” began, new power grids and computing power grids were simultaneously included in the country's “Six Networks” top-level plan. A supercycle with an annual investment of over trillion yuan and spanning the two major strategic tracks of energy and digital has already begun.
The “Fifteenth Five-Year Plan” for the Construction of a New Energy System clearly states that China will continue to actively develop nuclear power in a safe and orderly manner, focusing on mature third-generation pressurized water reactor technology, maintain a steady pace of construction, actively and steadily promote advanced reactor research and development and demonstration construction, and expand comprehensive nuclear energy utilization scenarios according to local conditions. By 2030, the installed nuclear power plant in operation will reach about 110 million kilowatts.
“In the restructuring of the power supply structure of new power systems, the strategic positioning of nuclear power is becoming more and more clear. As a clean, low-carbon, stable and reliable baseload power source, nuclear power is becoming a core support point in the 'wind, light and water core' multi-energy complementary model.” Zhang Hongjun, China's nuclear power director secretary, said.
Nuclear power projects continue to be “refreshed”, saving momentum for the large-scale development of nuclear energy in China. Nuclear energy is returning to the “C position” in the global energy industry.
According to the “China Nuclear Energy Development Report (2026)”, by the end of 2025, mainland China had 112 nuclear power units in operation, under construction and approved for construction, with a total installed capacity of 125 million kilowatts, ranking first in the world.
In addition to the upgrading of global power grids, the rapid growth in demand for artificial intelligence computing power is another important variable. The insane demand for electricity from AI data centers is catalyzing the recovery of the nuclear energy industry. Under the impact of the rapid development of AI, China's “force electricity, use calculation to promote electricity” strategy has been implemented, and the power industry is being repriced as a “technology+green” growth core asset.
The International Energy Agency predicts that global data center electricity consumption will nearly double from 485 terawatt-hours in 2025 to 950 terawatt-hours in 2030. This also means that the future AI computing power infrastructure arms race will not only depend on AI computing power infrastructure chains such as AI GPU/TPU, HBM, CPU, optical interconnect systems, and high-performance Ethernet switches, but also on who can quickly lock down grid access, power transformation capacity, long-term power supply, cooling resources, and low-carbon electricity certificates.
CITIC Securities released a research report saying that demand for AI has triggered a full recovery in the global nuclear power industry, and domestic nuclear power has entered a peak period of normalized approval and construction. The overall valuation of the nuclear power industry is underestimated. In the context of the orderly development of conventional third-generation nuclear power, advanced reactors are a high growth direction for nuclear power, and small piles are expected to become the optimal solution for data center energy supply and one of the best solutions for electricity going overseas, bringing revaluation to the nuclear power sector. In terms of investment, the bank suggests focusing on nuclear power and nuclear island equipment, valves, special materials, main pumps and other material companies.
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Harbin Electric (01133): The company expects to achieve net profit of about RMB 1.7 billion (approximately RMB 1.05 billion in the same period last year) for the first half year of 2026, which is a high increase over the same period of the previous year. The main reason is that the company's revenue scale grew steadily in the first half of 2026, the positive results achieved in deepening efforts to improve quality and efficiency, and the gross margin level of operating business increased compared to the same period last year.
CGN Mining (01164): In the second quarter of 2026, the mines invested by the Group produced a total of 667.8 tU of natural uranium, with a planned completion rate of 103.3% for this quarter. Among them, the Kazakh joint venture Semizbay Uranium Limited Partnership (Xie Company), which holds 49% of the Group's shares, produces 178.9 tU of natural uranium; while the other Kazakh affiliate mining company Ortalek Limited Liability Partnership (Austrian Company), which holds 49% of the shares, produces 488.9 tU of natural uranium.
CGN Power (01816): From January to June 2026, the total power generation of nuclear power units operated and managed by the Group was about 117.766 billion kilowatt-hours, down 2.12% from the same period last year. Total commercial feed-in electricity capacity was approximately 109.597 billion kilowatt-hours, down 3.32% from the same period last year. As of June 30, 2026, the Group has managed a total of 18 nuclear power units under construction, all from the company's subsidiaries. 3 are in the commissioning stage, 2 are in the equipment installation stage, 7 are in the civil construction stage, and 6 are in the FCD preparation stage.
CNNC International (02302): CNNC International's results for the year ended December 31, 2025 showed revenue of HK$2.49 billion, up 35.2% year on year; net profit of HK$192 million, down 1.3% year on year; and basic profit per share of HK$39.3. The increase in revenue was mainly due to transactions with independent third parties in the Group's uranium trading business, as well as an increase in overall trade volume brought about by continued linked exchanges.