Prime Minister John Howard said "very good progress" had been made in negotiations on opening Australia's vast uranium reserves up to China and a deal could be signed when Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visits next week.

Qinshan nuclear power plant on the outskirts of Hangzhou in southeast China. Australian Prime Minister John Howard said "very good progress" had been made in negotiations on opening Australia's vast uranium reserves up to China and that a deal could be signed during a visit next week by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. [AFP]

 

"We have made very good progress," Howard said during a joint press conference in Canberra with visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

"It's possible that the discussions could be satisfactorily concluded so that something could be said or signed when the Chinese premier visits Australia next week," he said.

Australia has some 40 percent of the world's known uranium reserves and has been keen to increase exports to fuel China's rapidly expanding nuclear power industry.

A senior Chinese official in Beijing said Monday the two governments were poised to sign two deals, one on exports of Australian uranium to China and another on Chinese involvement in uranium exploration and mining in Australia.

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