"(The agreement) represents a major step forward in our relations and will advance our bilateral trade relationship and the energy security of both our nations," US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said in a statement after the signing of the memorandum with the National Development and Reform Commission.

Unlike Westinghouse, which had no major projects in China previously, its competitor Areva won its first nuclear reactor contract in China in 1986 and has since built four of the nation's nine reactors, employing 3,500 people in the country.

It is offering China its European Pressurized Water Reactor (EPR) technology to bid for the third-generation nuclear power units.

The company Chairwoman Anne Lauvergeon, who earlier accompanied French President Jacques Chirac on the visit to China, also said that the company would fully transfer its technology in the bid.

China is the largest potential market for the nuclear industry in the coming years, said Lauvergeon, adding that the market is critical for Areva to obtain one-third of the world's nuclear energy market.

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