China to help Pak build six nuke power stations

Pakistan's "China card" with regard to cooperation in nuclear energy worked almost at the same time as the India-US civil nuclear deal was being cleared by the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

China announced that it would help Pakistan build six 300-megawatt nuclear power stations, news agencies reported from Beijing quoting a story published in China Daily on Thursday.

The deal had apparently been finalised when President Pervez Musharraf met the Chinese leaders last month, even as Pakistan continued to press the US for an equal treatment with India on the nuclear energy issue.

This is a part of ongoing cooperation between the two countries to develop their energy resources. China now has 11 nuclear power stations with a total capacity of 8,700 megawatts, The News reported.

According to a national plan provided in 2004, China will build 40 more nuclear power units by 2020 to meet its growing energy requirements, the report from Beijing said.