Chinese engineers on Saturday started loading fuel into the second power generation unit of the country's Zhangzhou nuclear power project in eastern Fujian Province.
The fuel loading process is a critical step that separates non-nuclear tests from nuclear tests and is one of the final stages before grid connection and commercial power generation.
The Zhangzhou nuclear power project is China's largest base using Hualong One technology, a domestically-developed third-generation reactor design. The project consists of six nuclear power units, with Unit 1 already in commercial operation and Unit 2 expected to begin generating electricity in the fourth quarter of this year.
Once completed, the first phrase of the Zhangzhou nuclear power project will deliver 20 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity annually.
"The Unit 1 of the first phrase has been put into commercial operation and is operating smoothly. Unit 2 is in the final sprint toward commercial operation, and it is expected to be completed for commercial operation this year. Construction of Units 3 and 4 under Phase II is also progressing rapidly, with civil construction at their peak," said Huo Xiaodong, deputy general manager of China Nuclear Power Engineering Co., Ltd. and chief designer of the Hualong One reactor.
Each Hualong One nuclear power unit can produce more than 10 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, enough to meet the electricity needs of one million people in a moderately developed country. This is the equivalent of reducing standard coal consumption by 3.12 million tonnes annually and carbon dioxide emissions by 8.16 million tonnes per year.
China's Hualong One has become the world's most deployed third-generation nuclear reactor technology, with 41 units currently in operation or under construction globally.
China starts loading fuel into Zhangzhou nuclear power plant's Unit 2
The Chinese Embassy in South Africa on Monday held an event in Pretoria, the country's administrative capital, to celebrate the launch of the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges.
This year also marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and African countries.
Chinese Ambassador to South Africa Wu Peng said that over the past seven decades, under the joint guidance of leaders from both sides, China-Africa people-to-people and cultural exchanges have continued to expand, yielding fruitful outcomes.
Noting that the world is undergoing profound changes unseen in a century, Wu said China and Africa need to uphold fairness and justice, strengthen solidarity and mutual assistance, and enhance exchanges and cooperation more than ever before.
Taking the launch of the China-Africa Year of People-to-people Exchanges as an opportunity, Wu called for upholding the original aspiration of friendship, solidifying the foundation of cooperation, enhancing two-way efforts, and accelerating the building of an all-weather China-Africa community with a shared future for the new era.
Mmapaseka Steve Letsike, South Africa's deputy minister of women, youth, and persons with disabilities, said South Africa and China enjoy strong and historic bonds of friendship as close international cooperation partners in the political, economic, social, technical and multilateral domains.
"The significance of people-to-people is really about how we elevate the people's life to a just and equitable stance that we want to see. We want a better Africa; we want a better world. And that for us is significant," said Letsike.
"Through people-to-people exchanges, we promote mutual understanding, and that is the basis of building mutual trust, building peaceful coexistence. People-to-people exchange is a very important instrument for peace and mutual understanding," said Bongani Maimele, director of international relations with South Africa's National School of Government.
The opening ceremony of the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges was held at the African Union headquarters on Jan 8. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the two sides will jointly host nearly 600 cultural and people-to-people exchange activities in 2026 to enhance exchanges and mutual learning between the two civilizations, and promote mutual understanding and connection between the peoples.
Organizing the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges is an important consensus reached by leaders from both sides at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Summit in 2024.
Chinese Embassy in South Africa unveils 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges
