China Daily:

The U.S. imposed nuclear restrictions on China amid U.S.-China trade tensions, and added the China General Nuclear Power Group and several of its affiliates to an entity list. What impact will the U.S. move have on China's nuclear energy development and nuclear safety? And what countermeasures can we take? Thank you.

Liu Hua: 

Thank you for your question. We have noted that the U.S. Department of Commerce added China General Nuclear Power Group and its three affiliates to the department's Entity List in mid-August. By doing so, the U.S. has abused the concept of national security and export control measures. It not only hurts Chinese companies, but also affects businesses in the U.S. and beyond. China firmly opposes the act of the U.S. to undermine the interests of China and other countries through unilateral and protectionist policies. We hope the U.S. will stop its wrongdoing and stick to an equal-footed consultation to find a solution. I also want to state the following four points on China-U.S. nuclear energy and nuclear safety cooperation. 

First, the China-U.S. nuclear energy cooperation is mutually beneficial. Both China and the U.S. are leading countries in the application of nuclear energy and technologies with a complete nuclear industry system. Of course, the U.S. leads the world in nuclear energy and nuclear safety. China has introduced four AP1000 reactor units from the U.S. through substantial bilateral cooperation in nuclear energy. These units have been successfully built, debugged and put into operation in China. This cooperation has benefited companies from both countries and been carried out on a voluntary basis.

Second, the China-U.S. cooperation on nuclear safety over the past 35 years has been agreeable, friendly and effective, and has produced positive results. The two countries have enhanced their nuclear safety levels through mutually beneficial cooperation. As nuclear safety has no borders, I believe the cooperation between the Chinese and U.S. governments in nuclear safety will not be affected despite the trade frictions. 

Third, China has also carried out fruitful nuclear energy cooperation with France and Russia, achieving substantial outcomes in some key projects, including nuclear power plants and spent fuel reprocessing facilities. So we say the U.S. is not the only country China carries out nuclear energy cooperation with. 

Fourth, on the one hand, I believe Chinese companies, in the face of the U.S. nuclear restrictions, will further strengthen research and development, and continue to enhance their capacity in independent innovation. On the other hand, it should be pointed out that the global market for cooperation in nuclear energy is huge. China can cooperate with the U.S. as well as with other countries. Therefore, the U.S. restrictions may ultimately hurt its own businesses. Thank you.