CHINA, the world's second-biggest energy consumer, will exceed its target of adding 40 gigawatts of nuclear-power capacity by 2020, and will boost uranium imports to supplement domestic reserves of the fuel.

The country will increase its nuclear-power capacity to at least 60 gigawatts by the end of the next decade, Wang Yonggan, secretary of the China Electricity Council, said at a conference in Beijing yesterday. The world's second-fastest growing major economy is turning to alternative energy sources like nuclear power to cut its reliance on polluting coal, which generates almost 80 percent of China's electricity.