TheChek News Flow

China’s third-generation Hualong One reactors will be among those built in some coastal provinces, and each can meet the energy demands of 1 million people

China’s State Council has approved 10 new nuclear reactors across five sites, ramping up the development of the nation’s rapidly expanding nuclear power industry with a combined investment of more than 200 billion yuan (US$27.4 billion).

The year’s first approval of new nuclear reactors came during a State Council meeting chaired by Premier Li Qiang on Sunday. They will be built in coastal provinces, including Zhejiang, Guangdong, Guangxi, Shandong and Fujian, according to The Paper, a state-run publication.

Among the newly planned reactors, eight are Hualong One reactors, which incorporate China’s third-generation nuclear technology and are each capable of generating about 10 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year – enough to meet the annual demand of 1 million people.

As stressed in the meeting, the development of nuclear power must ensure “absolute safety”.

“The nuclear power industry continues to experience strong growth … China’s nuclear power projects are being regularly approved and built according to the highest global safety standards,” analysts from Citic Securities wrote in a research note on Monday.

This marks the fourth straight year that the State Council has approved at least 10 nuclear reactors. The push to develop nuclear power aligns with China’s pledge to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, as the country remains the world’s largest consumer of coal power and biggest emitter of greenhouse gases.

A report released by the China Nuclear Energy Association on Sunday showed, for the first time, that China is the global leader in nuclear power capacity, with 102 nuclear reactors in operation, under construction or approved, with a total installed power capacity of 113 million kilowatts.

Data from the World Nuclear Association shows that about 65 power reactors are being constructed in 15 countries, and 30 are in China, making it the country with the largest number of nuclear reactors in the pipeline. Russia is second, with seven under construction.

Investment in nuclear power construction projects reached a record-high 146.9 billion yuan in 2024 – up 52 billion yuan from the previous year, according to the report.

Although nuclear power accounts for a smaller share of China’s clean-energy mix when compared with solar and wind power, nuclear electricity generation has been steadily increasing.

In 2024, the capacity of nuclear power units in operation was 60.88 million kilowatts, and this generated 445.1 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity – 2.72 per cent more than in 2023 – while accounting for 4.73 per cent of China’s total power output last year, according to the China Nuclear Energy Association.

The nuclear power output was equivalent to reducing 334 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.

By 2030, the capacity of China’s nuclear units in operation is estimated to reach 110 million kilowatts, the association said.

- Uranium spot price decreased by 11.7% from $73.00/lb on 31 Dec 2024 to $64.45/lb on 31 Mar 2025, but strengthened to $66.85/lb on 25 Apr 2025.

- Geopolitical uncertainties, particularly US trade policies, contributed to the price pullback, but long-term price remained resilient, increasing by $1.00/lb to $80.00/lb by Quarter-end.

- Value of Yellow Cake's uranium holdings decreased by 11.7% to $1,397.4 million as of 31 Mar 2025, reflecting the spot price decline.

- Estimated net asset value per share fell by 14.4% to £5.05, mainly due to the drop in uranium price and Sterling's appreciation.

- Estimated NAV on 25 Apr 2025 was £5.07 per share ($1,466.5 million).

- All U3O8 held at Cameco (Canada) and Orano (France) storage facilities.

- If export restrictions remain in force or tighten through 2025-2026, companies not diversified away from Chinese sources could face production slowdowns, higher production costs, slowdowns in wafer throughput and possibly product launch delays for devices that rely on affected components

- If we arrive at a scenario where no gallium or dysprosium at all is flowing to U.S./EU buyers, this would severely constrain any technology requiring III-V semiconductors or rare-earth magnets

- Overall, the likelihood of this scenario is somewhat limited as new non-Chinese mining/refining projects start coming online, recycling programs ramp up and diversification is on its way. But we are still in a difficult change period for the semi and electronics industry

- I assume that over the next few years, we can expect some traditionally China-dependent materials to have robust non-Chinese supply chains or substitutes like DRAM-grade tungsten from Canada, dysprosium-free magnet modules from Japan, or even novel semiconductor materials like Ga2O3 or boron nitride being developed to bypass gallium entirely

- Rare-earth magnets using neodymium-iron-boron alloys doped with dysprosium/terbium are part of lithography systems and wafer-handling robots, so curbs on these inputs could delay equipment deliveries and maintenance for chip fabs; The first immediate impact is that IDMs and foundries face cost inflation and potential bottlenecks in production if their Chinese sources for such specialized materials dry up

- Neodymium is arguably the single most critical rare earth for electronics; Neodymium-praseodymium alloys generate powerful permanent magnets used in semiconductor manufacturing equipment like lithography scanners and etch tools as well as in countless electronic devices

- Expect, rather than a blanket ban, every Chinese export requires a special license, and authorities will vet end users and end uses of the material case by case

- If export restrictions remain in force or tighten through 2025-2026, companies not diversified away from Chinese sources could face production slowdowns, higher production costs, slowdowns in wafer throughput and possibly product launch delays for devices that rely on affected components

- If we arrive at a scenario where no gallium or dysprosium at all is flowing to U.S./EU buyers, this would severely constrain any technology requiring III-V semiconductors or rare-earth magnets

- Overall, the likelihood of this scenario is somewhat limited as new non-Chinese mining/refining projects start coming online, recycling programs ramp up and diversification is on its way. But we are still in a difficult change period for the semi and electronics industry

- I assume that over the next few years, we can expect some traditionally China-dependent materials to have robust non-Chinese supply chains or substitutes like DRAM-grade tungsten from Canada, dysprosium-free magnet modules from Japan, or even novel semiconductor materials like Ga2O3 or boron nitride being developed to bypass gallium entirely

- Rare-earth magnets using neodymium-iron-boron alloys doped with dysprosium/terbium are part of lithography systems and wafer-handling robots, so curbs on these inputs could delay equipment deliveries and maintenance for chip fabs; The first immediate impact is that IDMs and foundries face cost inflation and potential bottlenecks in production if their Chinese sources for such specialized materials dry up

- Neodymium is arguably the single most critical rare earth for electronics; Neodymium-praseodymium alloys generate powerful permanent magnets used in semiconductor manufacturing equipment like lithography scanners and etch tools as well as in countless electronic devices

Top policymakers seek to reassure public that economy can withstand worst of trade war

China’s top economic officials said the country could do without American farm and energy imports as they vowed to achieve a 5 per cent GDP growth target for the year despite the trade war with the US. 

Zhao Chenxin, vice chair of the National Development and Reform Commission, China’s state planner, said domestic farm and energy production, along with imports from non-US sources, would be more than enough to satisfy demand.   

“Even if we do not purchase feed grains and oilseeds from the United States, it will not have much impact on our country’s grain supply,” Zhao said. 

His comments came during a Monday press conference where top Chinese policymakers sought to reassure the public about the state of the economy and pledged to step up support to stave off the effects of Donald Trump’s trade war. 

Zhao said that US agricultural imports were “primarily for feed grains, which were highly substitutable” and noted there would be limited impact on China’s energy supplies if companies stopped importing American oil, natural gas and coal.

The loss of the Chinese market would be a substantial hit for American farmers, who shipped roughly $33bn of agricultural goods to the country in 2023. The US also sent about $15bn of oil, gas and coal to China.

Brazil and Argentina are among those expected to ship more to China. The US’s share of China’s food imports collapsed to 13.5 per cent in 2023 from 20.7 per cent in 2016, while Brazil’s grew from 17.2 per cent to 25.2 per cent in the same period.

Despite rising desire in the Trump administration for talks with Beijing, China has shown little appetite for negotiations and repeatedly blasted Washington’s claims of ongoing discussions as false.

China last week indicated that the US should cancel its tariffs as a starting point for trade talks. 

With US-China bilateral tariffs at more than 100 per cent, trade between the two economic superpowers has begun to fall, causing Chinese factories to begin furloughing workers.

Still Zhao maintained that Beijing was “fully confident” of hitting the country’s 5 per cent growth target for the year, even as he admitted “external shocks were increasing”.

China’s commerce vice-minister Sheng Qiuping also said that exports continued to grow in April, even after the trade war began.

Policymakers said they would accelerate the introduction of measures to stabilise employment and the economy. Officials vowed to step up financing and credit support for exporters and repeated pledges to help Chinese manufacturers sell more goods at home and find new markets abroad.

Zou Lan, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, said the central bank would free up more cash for banks and cut interest rates at an appropriate time, while also vowing to keep the renminbi’s exchange rate stable. 

A top official at China’s human resources ministry said new labour policies included calls for state-owned enterprises to hire more recent university graduates and extra money to underwrite hiring and employment subsidies.

The country’s urban unemployment rate stood at 5.2 per cent in March, while the youth jobless rate was substantially higher at 16.5 per cent.

“Chinese policymakers are on heightened standby mode,” said Louise Loo at Oxford Economics. “While there were broad assurances to boost household spending and support tariff-hit businesses, job stabilisation appeared to take precedence.”