China National Nuclear Power Co, the country's biggest nuclear power developer, plans to raise money to help fund projects worth $27.3 billion via what could be one of China's biggest initial public offerings.
It did not specify its fundraising target or IPO timing in a statement on the Ministry of Environment Protection's website, but said the IPO proceeds would go towards five projects with a total investment of 173.5 billion yuan ($27.25 billion).
The ministry said in a statement it had approved the IPO plan, which would also need the go-ahead from the securities regulator. China suspended approvals of new nuclear power plants in the wake of Japan's nuclear crisis in March 2011 following a devastating tsunami, and ordered nation-wide safety checks on existing plants and construction sites.
The government has not made any decision on when to start approving new nuclear plant projects but the State Council, China's Cabinet, last week approved a nuclear safety plan and said its nuclear power plants met the latest international safety standards.
State media have said China will likely scale down its 2020 nuclear power generation capacity target to 60-70 gigawatts (GW) compared with earlier expectations of around 80 GW. China National Nuclear was formed last year as part of a restructuring of its state-owned parent China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC).