Bank of China will issue credit and loans worth 60 billion yuan (7.5 billion U.S. dollars) to finance projects of a nuclear power group over the next five years.

The bank, one of the country's "Big Four" state-owned banks, signed the cooperation agreement with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group on Monday.

Bank Governor Li Lihui said that in line with China's mid and long-term nuclear power development plan, the nation's installed nuclear power capacity in operation will reach 40 million kilowatts by 2020 and the installed capacity under construction, 18 million kilowatts.

China's nuclear power industry will face a historic development opportunity in the nation's 11th Five-Year (2006-2010) Plan period, the governor said.

The group, which has successfully built the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station in Shenzhen, south China, is a central enterprise with a registered capital of 10.2 billion yuan (1.28 billion U.S. dollars).

Its total assets amount to 57.5 billion yuan (7.2 billion U.S. dollars) and its annual sales income stand at over 10 billion yuan.

Bank of China was the sole financier of the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station, the country's first commercial nuclear power source, as early as 1985.

The station went into operation in 1994, with an annual generating capacity of 15 billion kilowatt hours.

Source: Xinhua