China Guangdong Nuclear fund raises $1 bln

SHANGHAI, April 18 (Reuters) - A fund run by China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group, one of China's two leading nuclear power developers, has signed a deal raising 7 billion yuan ($1.03 billion) for nuclear and other energy projects, the Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

Guangdong Nuclear's fund, the first industrial fund set up by a state-owned enterprise with approval from the State Council, or cabinet, signed the fund-raising agreement with Bank of China (3988.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) (601988.SS: Quote, Profile, Research), China Development Bank and other institutions, which will become shareholders in the fund, Xinhua said.

The financing is the first of two phases for the fund, which plans to raise a total of 10 billion yuan, it added.

China, the world's second-largest energy user, has 11 working nuclear power reactors accounting for only 1.3 percent of its total generating capacity, although a top energy official has said it aims to increase that proportion to 5 percent by 2020. ($1=6.832 Yuan) (Reporting by Edmund Klamann; )