Ji'nan (China), Dec 29 :China Monday launched the first phase of a nuclear power plant project in the country's eastern Shandong province, an official said.

Eight nuclear power units with pressurised-water reactors will be built in Haiyang city as part of the project, Xinhua reported.

In the first phase, two units with an installed capacity of 1.25 gigawatts each will be built, said Lu Qizhou, general manager of China Power Investment Corporation.

The most advanced Westinghouse-designed AP1000 pressurised water reactors will be used in the project, he added.(IANS)

Jinan, China - China's Liu Zige knocked over one and a half seconds off Jessica Schipper's 200-metre butterfly world record Wednesday with an astonishing swim at the national swimming championships in Jinan.

Liu recorded a time of 2 minutes 1.81 seconds for the distance, beating by 1.6 seconds the previous best time of 2:03.41 minutes set by Australian Schipper's on July 30 of this year at the world championships in Rome.(dpa)