Developing clean energy is a major strategy that concerns China's energy security and the overall development of the national economy and society. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to energy work, made a series of important instructions and directives on promoting energy development, and put forward a new energy security strategy of "Four Revolutions and One Cooperation," which includes promoting the energy consumption revolution, energy supply revolution, energy technology revolution, energy system revolution, and comprehensively strengthening international cooperation. This strategy provides fundamental guidance for the high-quality development of clean energy in the new era. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to "actively and steadily promote carbon peaking and carbon neutrality," "actively, safely and orderly develop nuclear power," "promote the clean, low-carbon and efficient utilization of energy," and "accelerate the planning and construction of a new energy system." The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made important arrangements for improving the green and low-carbon development mechanism. The Central Economic Work Conference held in December 2024 emphasized the need to "step up the comprehensive green transformation of economic and social development." As an important enterprise in the development of clean energy in China, China General Nuclear Power Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "CGN") fully implements the new energy security strategy of "Four Revolutions and One Cooperation" and the decision-making arrangements of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, firmly follows the path of high-quality development featuring the coordinated development of multiple clean energy sources such as nuclear power, wind power, and solar energy, and strives to play a better role in ensuring energy security in the process of promoting Chinese-style modernization.

1. The Road of Clean Energy with Nuclear Energy as the Mainstay is Getting Wider and Wider

Achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality is a broad and profound systematic transformation of the economic and social fields. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "Achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality is an inherent requirement for China's high-quality development and a solemn commitment made by China to the international community." In recent years, with the development of China's economy and society, the demand for energy has been continuously increasing. The limitations and unsustainability of traditional energy sources pose a threat to the stability of energy supply. Vigorously developing clean energy sources such as nuclear power, wind power, and solar energy is an inevitable choice to ensure the long-term and stable supply of energy and optimize the energy consumption structure. It is also an inevitable requirement for achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality and promoting high-quality economic development. For a long time, CGN has closely centered around the new energy security strategy, adhered to the original aspiration and mission of developing clean energy, and embarked on a path of high-quality development of clean energy with nuclear energy as the mainstay. Currently, the total installed capacity of clean energy sources such as nuclear power and new energy in operation of CGN exceeds 100 million kilowatts, and it has become an important force in promoting China's energy low-carbon transformation.

Starting from a High Starting Point to Create a Model for China's Large Commercial Nuclear Power Plants. Nuclear power is a safe, reliable, economic, clean, and low-carbon energy source, playing an important role in ensuring energy and power supply and supporting the development of the economy and society. As a central energy enterprise mainly engaged in nuclear energy, CGN started with the construction of the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant. General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly pointed out in his speech at the closing ceremony of the Sixth Meeting of the China-France Business Council held in Paris on May 6, 2024, that "A number of representative projects such as the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant and the Airbus A320 Final Assembly Line in Tianjin have become models of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries." In 1978, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made a decision to introduce two million-kilowatt nuclear power units from France. Bathed in the spring breeze of reform and opening up, the construction of the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant kicked off. The Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant officially started construction on August 7, 1987. After going through "countless hardships, untold words, and every possible means," it was fully completed and put into operation in 1994, achieving a major leap from scratch for million-kilowatt nuclear power units on the Chinese mainland. Today, the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant has been operating safely for more than 30 years, with a cumulative grid-connected power generation of more than 440 billion kilowatt-hours, of which 320 billion kilowatt-hours have been transmitted to Hong Kong, accounting for one-fourth of Hong Kong's total electricity consumption, injecting a continuous stream of clean electricity into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Batch Construction to Lay the Foundation for the Sustainable Development of China's Nuclear Power. On the basis of the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant, CGN has continuously promoted the process of "introduction, digestion, absorption, and re-innovation," successfully built the first and second phases of the Ling'ao Nuclear Power Plant, formed the CPR1000 nuclear power technology brand, and constructed 20 CPR1000 units in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Liaoning and other places, creating a new pattern of batch, standardized and serialized construction of nuclear power in China. It has achieved a historic leap for China's large commercial nuclear power plants from full-scale introduction to independent design, independent manufacturing, independent construction, and independent operation. Over the past 40-odd years, CGN has embarked on a path of catching up in strategically emerging industries, accumulating valuable experience for China to develop capital-intensive and technology-intensive large industries. According to the relevant indicators of the World Association of Nuclear Operators, in 2024, 86% of the indicators of the 28 nuclear power units in operation of CGN reached the world's advanced level, and the comprehensive indicators of 14 units reached full marks, giving full play to the base load advantages of nuclear power units in terms of cleanliness, efficiency, safety, and stability, and effectively supporting energy supply.

The Rise of Hualong, Leading the Development Momentum of China's Independent Third-Generation Nuclear Power Technology. Having independent nuclear power technology is a prerequisite for China to transform from a large nuclear power country to a strong nuclear power country. Based on the experience, talents, and resources accumulated over decades of nuclear power construction, CGN and its partners have actively promoted the research and development of China's independent third-generation nuclear power technology, successfully launched the "Hualong One," a major national equipment that competes on the same stage as international third-generation nuclear power technologies, and has become a "national business card" as famous as China's high-speed railways. The industrial chain of CGN's "Hualong One" has driven more than 5,400 upstream and downstream enterprises to achieve localization of more than 400 key equipment, and promoted the localization of 100% of the whole nuclear power equipment of the "Hualong One." On May 25, 2024, with the commissioning and power generation of Unit 4 of the Fangchenggang Nuclear Power Plant in Guangxi, the demonstration project of CGN's "Hualong One" was fully completed, verifying the safety, reliability, and advancement of the "Hualong One" technology, and accumulating valuable experience that can be learned from and replicated for the batch construction of the "Hualong One." Currently, there are 14 "Hualong One" units under construction under CGN, and the batch construction is steadily advancing.

Laying out "Non-Nuclear" Energy and Placing the Development of New Energy in a More Prominent Position. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "We should place the promotion of the development of new energy and clean energy in a more prominent position, and actively and orderly develop light energy, silicon energy, hydrogen energy, and renewable energy." In response to the changes of the times and the energy revolution, while vigorously developing nuclear power, CGN has actively entered the field of non-nuclear clean energy. After 18 years of green development, the installed capacity of CGN's new energy under its domestic controlling ownership in operation has exceeded 56 million kilowatts. New energy projects cover 31 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities across the country, comprehensively covering business types such as wind power, photovoltaic power, solar thermal power, pumped storage, energy storage, and hydrogen energy. A number of key projects have been completed, such as the "Fuxiyihao" large-scale wind and fishery integration cage platform in Shanwei, the 3 million-kilowatt wind power base in Xing'an League, Inner Mongolia, and China's first large-scale offshore pile foundation fixed offshore photovoltaic project.

2. Grasping the Timing and Situation, Continuously Making Efforts in the Development of Clean Energy

At present, the once-in-a-century changes in the world are accelerating. The global geopolitical, economic, scientific and technological, and governance systems are undergoing profound changes. The breakthrough development of artificial intelligence has triggered a more vigorous demand for computing power and a sharp increase in energy consumption. Coupled with the intensified risks of climate change, the energy system dominated by fossil energy will be difficult to meet the new needs of the development of social productive forces. Energy security has become a priority concern for the development of major countries in the world. Actively developing clean energy and promoting the green and low-carbon transformation of the economy and society have become the common consensus of the international community in responding to global climate change. In China, the industrial structure is relatively heavy and the energy structure is mainly coal-based. To promote green and low-carbon development and ensure the safe and stable supply of energy, we must vigorously develop clean energy and accelerate the solution of problems in terms of the development environment and factor guarantees.

Since the new era, China has adhered to placing the development of clean energy in a prominent position and has achieved remarkable results. Currently, the utilization technologies of non-fossil energy represented by advanced nuclear energy and renewable energy in China are gradually becoming the mainstream. A number of new energy technologies and equipment manufacturing levels are leading the world. China has established the world's largest, most complete, and most competitive clean energy industry chain and supply chain, and has promoted the clean energy industry to grow into a new pillar of the modern industrial system.

Over the past 10-odd years, CGN has deeply understood the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important expositions on national energy security, deeply grasped the historical trend and global situation of clean energy development, actively practiced the new energy security strategy of "Four Revolutions and One Cooperation," and firmly developed multiple clean energy sources such as nuclear power, wind power, and solar energy. It has formed distinct and highly competitive advantages in scientific and technological innovation, industrial layout, integrated development, and open cooperation, showing a strong upward development trend.

In terms of scientific and technological innovation, the clean energy technology has achieved leapfrog development. CGN adheres to innovation as the core strategy and the primary driving force for development, and actively seizes the technological commanding heights. In the field of nuclear energy, a product spectrum system with "Hualong One," small pressurized water reactors, and advanced reactor types as the main body has been formed. The third-generation nuclear power technology of "Hualong One" has passed the European Utility Requirements (EUR) certification and the United Kingdom's Generic Design Assessment (GDA). The independently developed nuclear-grade digital instrument and control system "Harmony System" has been applied on a large scale in various domestic reactor types, creating important conditions for China's nuclear power to go global. In the field of new energy, CGN continues to promote the development of technologies such as offshore wind power and offshore photovoltaic power, and relies on the Delingha solar thermal project to build a national-level solar thermal research and development center, maintaining a leading edge in the global clean energy technology competition.

In terms of industrial layout, the market scale of clean energy continues to grow. CGN accelerates the exploration of new ways for the clean and low-carbon development of energy, and relying on the advantages of China's huge market scale, it has achieved large-scale and clustered construction and operation of clean energy sources such as nuclear power, wind power, photovoltaic power, and energy storage, firmly grasping the initiative in long-term development. In the past 10 years, 22 nuclear power units have been successively completed, and the work safety performance has continuously remained at the world-class level. The installed capacity of new energy at home and abroad has exceeded 77 million kilowatts, and the scale and efficiency rank among the top in the industry. A green and diversified industrial structure with clean energy as the main body has been fully formed, and the development prospects are very broad.

In terms of integrated development, the clean energy industry chain is constantly upgraded. CGN focuses on enhancing the resilience and safety level of China's clean energy industry chain, and promotes the construction of the modern industrial chain of "Hualong One" with high quality, promoting the upgrading of the industrial chains of new energy, proton therapy, etc. It has cumulatively driven more than 17,000 upstream and downstream enterprises to develop in a coordinated manner. At the same time, it actively explores new models of "new energy +" integrated development, combines the development of clean energy with rural revitalization, social livelihood, environmental governance, etc., and creates demonstration projects such as photovoltaic desert control, marine ranching, and fishery-photovoltaic complementary projects, leading the diversified and integrated development of the clean energy industry.

In terms of open cooperation, the cooperation achievements in the energy field under the Belt and Road Initiative are fruitful. CGN adheres to the inherent advantages of open development and international cooperation, focuses on overseas markets in the fields of nuclear energy, nuclear fuel, and clean energy, and promotes the construction of a clean energy industry ecosystem under the Belt and Road Initiative. From a global perspective, the development of clean energy of CGN has formed a new pattern of "one horizontal and two verticals," and clean energy projects are distributed in 16 countries including France, Malaysia, Brazil, and South Korea. At the same time, it has achieved high-quality win-win cooperation with countries such as Kazakhstan and Namibia in the field of nuclear fuel, forming an open and innovative ecosystem with global competitiveness.

Actively responding to global climate change and developing clean energy is the general trend in the world. China has made a solemn commitment to the international community to strive to achieve carbon peaking before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. Achieving this goal in the shortest time in global history faces unprecedented difficulties and challenges, but it also contains unprecedented development opportunities. As a pioneer in the development of clean energy in China, CGN will clearly understand the general trend of the green and low-carbon transformation and development of the economic and social fields, seize the historic opportunities for the development of clean energy brought about by carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, give full play to its own advantages, and strive to build a world-class clean energy enterprise.

3. Leading the High-Quality Development of Clean Energy with Further Deepening of Reform

Developing clean energy is a major strategy for accelerating the green and low-carbon transformation and development of China's economic and social fields. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China made major arrangements for further deepening the reform of state-owned assets and state-owned enterprises, and emphasized the need to accelerate the planning and construction of a new energy system. CGN will thoroughly study and understand a series of new thoughts, new viewpoints, and new judgments of General Secretary Xi Jinping on comprehensively deepening reform, effectively link and integrate the implementation of the spirit of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Central Economic Work Conference with the action of deepening and upgrading the reform of state-owned enterprises. With greater efforts, higher standards, and more practical measures, it will implement various reform tasks, accelerate the revolutionary breakthroughs in clean energy technology, the innovative allocation of production factors, and the in-depth transformation and upgrading of the industry. It will coordinate high-quality development and high-level security, continuously enhance core functions, and improve core competitiveness, and better play the roles of scientific and technological innovation, industrial control, and security support in promoting Chinese-style modernization.

Strengthen scientific and technological innovation and strive to become a reliable national strategic scientific and technological force. Core and key technologies cannot be obtained by begging, buying, or soliciting. To accelerate the construction of a new energy system, we must always firmly hold the lifeline of science and technology in our own hands and unswervingly promote the energy technology revolution. CGN will thoroughly implement the innovation-driven development strategy, actively promote independent innovation in terms of planning and layout, platform construction, mechanism guarantee, and talent cultivation, and strive to be the "main force" of national scientific and technological innovation. Focusing on carrying out forward-looking technology layout, it will vigorously promote independent innovation in fields such as advanced reactor types, advanced fuels, and proton therapy, and strive to master more key technologies, key products, and key links in the industrial chain; focusing on promoting the construction of major scientific research platforms, it will build three innovation centers in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and Yangtze River Delta region, and lay out a number of major nuclear energy scientific and technological infrastructure facilities and demonstration projects such as the State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Power Safety Technology and Equipment, creating a source of original technology; focusing on improving the scientific research management mechanism, it will optimize the R&D investment mechanism and include R&D investment and the completion of major scientific research tasks in the annual and term assessments of member companies; focusing on the project of strengthening the enterprise with talents, it will build a scientific research talent echelon composed of young and middle-aged experts, senior experts, chief experts, and strategic commanders, and strive to create a highland for scientific research and development talents in clean energy.

Focus on industrial innovation and boost the construction of a modern industrial system. A modern industrial system is the material and technical foundation of a modern country. We must focus on the real economy in economic development to provide a strong material support for achieving the second centenary goal. The six physical industries of CGN, including nuclear energy, nuclear fuel, and new energy, all belong to the strategic emerging industries encouraged by the state. Looking to the future, CGN will give full play to the leading role of the industrial chain, organize and carry out technological research, resource integration, and the construction of typical scenario applications, and comprehensively promote the strengthening, supplementing, and shaping of the industrial chain; give full play to the leading role of innovation, vigorously cultivate and develop strategic emerging industries, and promote the development plans of seven strategic emerging industries, including leading nuclear energy, ensuring the safety of nuclear fuel, doubling new energy, digital leapfrogging, breakthroughs in nuclear technology, strengthening the foundation of environmental protection, and future development, so that the flowers of innovation will bear industrial fruits; give full play to the leading role of the coordinated development of various industrial elements, actively establish alliances of the industrial chain, supply chain, and innovation chain covering key