Global Economic News

Russia, China Move Forward on Floating Nuclear Power Cooperation

Sept. 18 (EIRNS)—A high-level meeting of Chinese and Russian nuclear leaders has resulted in an agreement to "develop cooperation" on floating nuclear power plants, according to World Nuclear News.

"Our Chinese partners have shown great interest in the Russian project," said Rosatom chief Sergei Kiriyenko, referring to the first floating plant, the Akademik Lomonosov, being built in Saint Petersburg. The Lomonosov, whose hull was completed last year, will host two 35 MW reactors.

The floating NPP project was announced in 2006 under the administration of then-President Vladimir Putin. Within a year, there were discussions between Russia and China on the technology. Early plans for the plant had foreseen the Russian marine power reactors being fitted to a Chinese-built barge.

The countries are also discussing cooperation for space nuclear power systems, and from mid-2012 on, Russia will supply radioisotope thermal generators to the Chinese space program. Further nuclear cooperation should be on the table when Putin makes his important October visit to China.

China Calls for International Development of Its Eastern Provinces

Sept. 24 (EIRNS)—In keeping with the call for China-Russia-U.S. cooperation in the development of the Russian Far East as a "Peace Through Development" approach to the world crisis, China has issued a similar call for international cooperation in the development of the less-developed provinces in the western regions of China.

Speaking at an Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) conference called the "Euro-Asia Economic Forum" in Xi'an, the capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi province, Li Changchun, a member of the China's Standing Committee, said: "Global financial markets are sharply fluctuating while world economic recovery is getting more and more uncertain and instable." But rather than agreeing to demands for the Chinese to pump money into the euro-debt bubble, Li proposed: "European and Asian countries should have a long-term view to deepen cooperation, accommodate and help each other and overcome the difficulties together... through common development."

Li proposed that the countries involved speed up regional economic integration and deepen cooperation in energy, new and high technology, and humanitarian sectors as well as other areas related to "people's livelihoods."

Earlier this month, Vice-Premier Li Keqiang announced in the Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region that Beijing will quicken the process of opening up inland regions, especially China's western parts, to the world.