China is stepping up its research and development of nuclear power

Westinghouse, the nuclear-plant builder sold by British Nuclear Fuels earlier this year, has won a billion-dollar contract to build reactors in China.

The deal, worth about $8bn (£4.1bn), is for four nuclear plants - two at Sanmen in Zhejiang province, with another two at Yangjiang in Guangdong.

An expected decline in fossil fuels and increasing energy demands have prompted many nations to focus on nuclear power.

Analysts said that the deal may also help soothe trade tensions with the US.

'Relationship driven'

US-based Westinghouse defeated a number of other international companies to win the tender, including France's Areva and Russia's Atomstroiexport.

The fact that Westinghouse is now owned by Japan's Toshiba may also have helped secure the deal, especially after Japan's new Prime Minister Shinzo Abe signalled an intention to restore friendlier ties with China.

"This is all relationship driven," said David Hurd, an analyst at Deutsche Bank.

"The US is putting pressure on China at the moment, so China's response is 'let's throw them a bone,'" he explained.

The US, which is running a record trade deficit with China, estimated that the deal would create more than 5,000 American jobs. At the heart of the deal was the promise of a transfer of technology from the US firm to China, analysts said.

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