OTTAWA (AFP) - Chinese officials and investors have been scouting for uranium in Canada, the largest producer in the world, to power new nuclear power plants, Canadian officials told AFP.

"We know that they're interested. They have a large reactor program and limited local resources, although they're stepping up their exploration. In the meantime, they're looking for uranium in different parts of the world," said Robert Vance, a spokesperson for Canada's department of natural resources.

Canada has already delivered fuel to China for use in its two Canadian-built CANDU nuclear reactors purchased in the 1990s, but the United States remains its primary customer, receiving half of the annual 11,600 tonnes of uranium produced here each year.

Now, China is planning to spend billions of dollars to build 40 more nuclear reactors by 2020 to generate electricity and feed its booming economy while reducing its reliance on coal -- currently nuclear power represents only one percent of its energy supply compared to coal at 66 percent.

And so it is meeting with suppliers in Canada, Australia and Kazakhstan, looking to buy raw materials or participate in joint mining ventures, officials said.

Late last year, a Chinese delegation visited the offices of Saskatoon-based Cameco Corp., which produces almost 20 percent of the world's uranium, while another group of Chinese investors recently stopped by the Vancouver offices of CanAlaska Ventures Ltd., a junior exploration company hoping to find uranium in the Athabasca Basin in the western province of Saskatchewan, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported Monday.

And a group from the Chinese consulate in Calgary met last week with executives of Cogema Resources Inc., the uranium-mining subsidiary of Areva Group, a French nuclear energy company.

A global uranium shortage of 45,000 tonnes is expected over the next decade, according to a May report by the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada funded by Canada's foreign affairs department, largely due to growing Chinese demand, prompting fierce competition recently among nations in this area.

In January, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin announced plans for greater energy cooperation between the two countries during his visit to China, opening the door for talks between Canadian and Chinese firms -- these have not yet reached beyond the preliminary exploratory stages, officials said.

"Canada and China have a history of successful collaboration in the nuclear energy sector... The two countries will encourage Canadian and Chinese enterprises to expand commercial partnerships in this sector, and will conduct research on the development of advanced nuclear energy technologies and related issues to improve the cost and safety of nuclear energy systems," Martin said in a news release.

Meanwhile, France and Russia have renewed their sales pitches to build nuclear reactors in China.

Australia, the second-largest uranium producer, is also considering selling fuel to China, but first wants assurances that its supplies will not be used in Chinese nuclear weapons.