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Sun takes the helm at CNNC

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-08-15 09:20

Sun Qin, deputy director of the National Energy Administration (NEA), has been appointed general manager of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) to replace Kang Rixin, who was removed from his post for "grave violations of discipline", said a notice posted on the corporation's website on Friday.

Sun, 56, was the deputy head of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (COSTIND). He also served as the deputy general manager of CNNC for six years before he became the deputy director of the NEA in 2008.

"It's not surprising that Sun became the general manager of CNNC," said an insider who preferred to remain anonymous. "He is very familiar with the industry and had similar experience when working in COSTIND."

Sun also serves as Party secretary of the corporation, according a statement on its website.

The Shenzhen-listed SUFA Technology Industry Co, whose controlling shareholder is CNNC, made an announcement saying its production and business operations of the company were not affected.

"Kang's personal wrongdoings would not affect a listed company's performance as SUFA Technology has quite a clear development plan and Kang was not in a management role in the company," Wei Jin, analyst, South China Securities, said.

"Maybe there is a positive effect on SUFA Technology's price, because Sun Qin is in charge now."

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Wang Hexu, an analyst at Ping An Securities, said: "When the whole A-share market is down, the positive factors will also be caught up in the negative sentiment."

CNNC is China's largest nuclear power developer and operator, with more than 100 sub-units and 280,000 employees. It covers a wide range of businesses including uranium mining, nuclear power design, power production, and the management of China's nuclear waste disposal facilities. The corporation made a profit of 4.8 billion yuan ($703 million) last year.

An insider said that Kang was accused of squandering public funds and interfering with the bidding results of nuclear power projects.

China has been aggressively expanding its nuclear capacity as part of efforts to increase cleaner energy supplies and reduce dependence on coal.

The world's No 2 energy user, which started building five nuclear plants this year, plans to double its target for installed nuclear power generating capacity to 86 gigawatts by 2020 from the previous goal of 40 gW.