China National Nuclear Corporation

China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) was established in 1988 when the Chinese government restructured its nuclear industry following the separation of military and civilian nuclear functions. Its roots trace to the founding of China’s nuclear weapons program in 1955 under Premier Zhou Enlai and the guidance of Soviet advisors, and to the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ nuclear research programs of the late 1950s. CNNC is a central state-owned enterprise (SOE) directly supervised by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, headquartered in Beijing. Its chairman and leadership are appointed by the Chinese government, and the organization holds a central role in both China’s military and civilian nuclear programs.

CNNC operates across the entire nuclear fuel cycle and reactor lifecycle. It mines and processes uranium domestically and internationally, enriches uranium, fabricates fuel, designs and builds nuclear power plants, operates reactors, reprocesses spent fuel, and handles waste disposal. Its flagship reactor design is the Hualong One (HPR-1000) — a 1,000+ MWe Generation III pressurized water reactor developed by CNNC and CGN (China General Nuclear Power Group) as China’s indigenous large reactor design for both domestic and export deployment. The Hualong One has been constructed in China, Pakistan (the Karachi K-2 and K-3 units), and was proposed for projects in the UK (Bradwell site). CNNC also develops the ACP100 small modular reactor (Linglong One) — China’s first SMR, which received IAEA Generic Reactor Safety Review approval in 2021 and began construction in Hainan in 2021.

CNNC is funded as a state enterprise, with revenues exceeding CNY 100 billion annually. It employs over 100,000 people across its subsidiaries, which include China National Nuclear Power Co. Ltd (listed subsidiary that operates commercial nuclear plants), CNNC International, and dozens of industrial companies covering equipment manufacturing, engineering, and uranium mining.

CNNC is one of the most active nuclear developers in the world. As of 2026, China is the country with the largest nuclear construction pipeline globally, with over 20 reactors under construction domestically and several CNNC-led projects abroad. CNNC is actively promoting the Hualong One for export in countries including Argentina, Saudi Arabia, and multiple countries in Asia and Africa. Within China, CNNC’s construction program is a cornerstone of Beijing’s goal to reach 200 GW of nuclear capacity by 2035 and to make nuclear energy a major pillar of China’s carbon neutrality commitment by 2060.