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China-EU relations
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EU should learn from China’s energy tech, say heads of 2 of France’s largest power firms

The EU can learn from China’s tech knowledge and speed capability in both renewable and nuclear power sectors

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Construction at the Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant in China’s northeastern Shandong province on June 29. Photo: Xinhua
Xiaofei Xuin Paris
The heads of two of France’s biggest energy companies have urged governments in the European Union (EU) to work with China on nuclear and renewable power to learn from Chinese firms, amid rising concerns from Brussels over the bloc’s dependence on Beijing.

Bernard Fontana, chief of state-owned energy firm Electricite de France described visiting China Nuclear Industry 23 Construction Co. during a recent trip to China, where its team explained how they could build a support structure in just one week while the same structure could take up to two years in to build in France.

“The help they give us is methodological ... but it does not create dependency,” said Fontana, during a panel at Les Rencontres Economiques d’Aix-en-Provence economic forum over the weekend.

Nuclear cooperation was among the many topics mentioned in agreements signed between Beijing and Paris during French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to China in December. French media have widely reported that EDF saw China as a benchmark in the acceleration of nuclear reactor constructure.

Patrick Pouyanne, CEO of TotalEnergies and a fellow panellist, echoed the point on efficiency. Pouyanne also spoke of a recent trip to China, where he found the regulatory system much faster than in France, and saw how China issued permits allowing reactors and factories to be built quickly.

Pouyanne urged Europe to bring in Chinese companies and set up joint ventures to share technologies.

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