South Africa and China were considering a proposed agreement that would likely see the Asian giant participate more in the development of South Africa’s nuclear projects.

Energy Minister Dikobe Ben Martins said on Wednesday that China had expressed interest in South Africa’s civil nuclear energy projects and proposed a draft agreement for consideration.

The China National Energy Administration vice administrator Tan Rongyao, who met with Martins in February to discuss cooperation in the field of peaceful and civil uses of nuclear energy, said China was willing to participate and invest in South Africa’s nuclear energy sector to support economic development, localisation, skills development and job creation.

The draft agreement covered aspects such as potential skills development and capacity building; research and development; the new nuclear build programme; supplier development and localisation; joint marketing; the supply of nuclear energy products and infrastructure funding to promote regional nuclear power developments.

“The visit by the high-level Chinese delegation and the hosting of the South Africa-China Nuclear Cooperation Seminar in South Africa, demonstrates the People’s Republic of China’s confidence in the potential of South Africa’s energy sector,” Martins said in a statement.

The two parties committed to continue engaging on issues of mutual interest in the energy sector, including the nuclear energy industry.

The two countries had inked two other agreements – an intergovernmental agreement on cooperation in the peaceful uses of atomic energy in 2006 and a general cooperation agreement in the field of energy in 2010 – which had led to information and knowledge exchange between South Africa and China.

China had started training South Africans in the renewable-energy sector and planned to extend this to capacity building in the nuclear energy sector.

Further, State-owned nuclear energy corporations China General Nuclear Power Corporation and the State Nuclear Power Technology Corporation signed a skills development and training agreement last month with the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa that would enable South Africans to further their studies in nuclear energy and other specialised areas of energy at Chinese universities.

“This agreement will lay a foundation for further cooperation in skills development and will be funded up to 95% by Chinese institutions,” the parties said in the statement.