China suspended the approval of new nuclear plants and carried out a nationwide safety review after the crisis. The government cautiously resumed nuclear project approvals in October last year in a bid to meet growing energy demands in the world's second-largest economy.

Out of safety concerns, authorities vowed not to build any nuclear power plants in inland regions during the 2011-2015 period and demanded that the world's strictest safety requirements be applied to new plants.

After the Fukushima crisis, the Shidao Bay project went through on-site checks in accident prevention and emergency management and passed government safety inspections, the HSNPC statement said.

China had 15 nuclear power-generating units in operation with a total installed capacity of 12.54 GW, and another 26 units currently under construction will add another 29.24 GW, according to a government white paper on energy policy released in October 2012.

Nuclear power only accounts for 1.8 percent of China's total power output, far below the world average of 14 percent, and China plans to increase its installed nuclear power capacity to 40 GW by 2015, the paper said.