China will build 21 new nuclear reactors over the next decade in another effort to combat its overwhelming air pollution problem while jump starting its stalled economy.

China's National Energy Administration (NEA) in its Energy Work Guidance Opinion for 2017 said the construction of five of these reactors should be finished within this year. The construction of eight more reactors will start this year while planning for eight more will be advanced.

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NEA's plan calls for the safe development of nuclear power throughout China.

To be completed this year will be the construction of the Sanmen 1 reactor for the Sanmen Nuclear Power Station; the Haiyang 1 AP1000 units at the Haiyang Nuclear Power Plant; the Taishan 1 European Pressurized Reactor at the Taishan Nuclear Power Plant; the Fuqing 4 reactor at the Fuqing Power Plant and the CPR-1000 units at the Yanjiang Nuclear Power Station.

Along with other projects, these rectors will add some 6.41 GWe of nuclear generating capacity to China's national grid.

Preparatory work will also be carried out on eight other units. These include units 3 and 4 of Sanmen; Ningde units 5 and 6 and two units each at new plants at Zhangzhou in Fujian and Huizhou in Guangdong. These will add 9.86 GWe of nuclear generating capacity to the grid together with the other projects.

NEA will actively promote the construction of "qualified" nuclear power projects and push for an orderly approval of power plants built along the coast. NEA also said it will continue to implement major nuclear power science and technology projects.

It will also push the construction of the high-temperature gas-cooled demonstration project in Shidaowan in Shandong.