China has announced plans to double its nuclear power capacity by 2020.

Kang Rixin, the general manager of the China National Nuclear Corporation, was quoted by the official Xinhua news agency as saying at the World Energy Congress in Rome that at present China's nuclear power capacity accounts for two percent of the total installed capacity of the country.

He said that he hoped that by 2020, the percentage will stand at four percent.

China's installed capacity of nuclear power would hit 40 million kilowatts by 2020, he said.

Kang said China has 11 nuclear power generation units in operation, 8 units are under construction and another 8 units are in their preparation stage.

He said China will invest a total of 400 billion yuan in building the 16 nuclear units, and "banks in China are active in pouring the funds and there is no shortage of funds. "

China has already listed the nuclear power industry as a priority, and the move is to reduce the CO2 emission to tackle climate change, he said.

The five-day World Energy Congress ended on Thursday. (ANI)