China state visit: Xi Jinping to sign Hinkley nuclear power plant deal in UK

China has reportedly agreed to fund one-third of the costs of building a new £24 billion nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset

President Xi meetsthe Queen at the state banquet at Buckingham Palace (Getty Images)

Chinese president Xi Jinping is expected to back the first nuclear power plant to be built in the UK in decades.

China has reportedly agreed to fund one-third of the costs of building a new £24 billion nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset in a deal signed between state-owned companies from China and France before the arrival of Xi Jinping in London. It is due to be publically unveiled on Wednesday.

France’s EDF and the China General Nuclear Power Corporation will be the only investors in the deal, but the UK government is backing it with £17 billion of UK Government loan guarantees.

It is expected to be completed in 2025 and deliver 7 per cent of the UK’s electricity – two years later than expected.

The Government has been criticised by environmental organisations for guaranteeing state-owned French firm EDF a subsidy price of £92.50 per megawatt hour for 35 years to build a new reactor at Hinkley. This is almost double the current wholesale price of electricity, which is currently around £50 per megawatt hour.

Charities say proposals to slash financial support for the UK solar industry have already led to over 1,000 job losses, and over 25,000 more are in severe jeopardy.

“George Osborne's desperation to get Chinese investment at almost any cost means a shockingly bad deal for Britain,” said Craig Bennett, CEO of Friends of the Earth.

Hinkley is part of a package of deals with China that the Government have valued at £30 billion.

A £325 million package of partnerships in the creative and technology, including a £50 million deal between Aston Martin and China Equity to develop its zero-emission RapidE sports car, is said to be in the works. Cheap visas for Chinese tourists have also been touted, to try and attract other high-spending visitors to the UK.