The key to China’s expected nuclear dominance by 2030 has been to beat the “global cost escalation curse” with the cost of installing reactors falling to a fraction of what they are in the West, according to Washington-based thinktank Jamestown Foundation.

In a research paper, Christopher Nye, a non-resident fellow at the foundation, wrote that by the end of 2025 China operated 59 commercial reactors totalling more than 62 GW of installed capacity, with an additional 35 units under construction worth nearly 42 GW. This makes for a combined portfolio of operational, under-construction, and approved units spanning 112 reactors, totalling 125 GW – more than the US, which has 94 reactors but none under construction.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s reactor database says China has 60 nuclear plants in commercial operation and 35 under construction. It puts installed capacity at 58.72 GW (net).