Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to take steps to protect nationally significant infrastructure projects such as large scale solar plants in line with the decision to remove China Nuclear Power Group from its involvement in the construction of the Sizewell Nuclear Plant.

The UK welcomes foreign investment in our infrastructure. As part of this, all investment involving critical infrastructure is subject to thorough scrutiny and needs to satisfy the government’s robust legal, regulatory, and national security requirements. This includes the new National Security and Investment Act 2021, which gives the Government robust powers to investigate and, if necessary, intervene in investments and other acquisitions to protect national security.

CGN has a 20% shareholding in the Sizewell C project up to the point of Final Investment Decision. Negotiations on the project are ongoing and no decisions have been made.