Xu Dazhe, Chairman of the China Atomic Energy Authority , said that China will be increasing nuclear cooperation with Iran with a view towards economic gains. In a meeting in Tehran with his Iranian counterpart, Xu said that Beijing will not only help Iran modernise its Arak nuclear reactor, but will also increase cooperation in areas including nuclear power generation, finance, and high technology research. Xu referred to Iran’s plans to build several 100 MW nuclear power plants, and said that this will also be a part of any future joint ventures.
Iran and China have agreed to modernise the Arak heavy water reactor and cooperate in producing 20 GW of nuclear electricity.