China, the world's second-biggest energy consumer, may approve the construction of four 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactors in the country's northeast to cut the nation's dependence on oil and coal.

"The government will start assessing the Hongyanhe project soon, which has completed almost 30 years of preparatory work," the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission said in a statement on its Website yesterday, citing Zhang Guobao, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planning agency. China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group Co, the nation's second-biggest reactor builder, plans to build a nuclear power plant at Hongyanhe, Dalian in Liaoning Province, Bloomberg News reported.