Construction on the first unit of a pilot nuclear power project using a Chinese reactor design began in south China on Thursday.

Workers on Thursday morning broke ground on the unit that will use Hualong One technology, a domestically-developed third generation reactor, in Fangchenggang City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

Hualong One was designed China General Nuclear Power Corp. (CGN) and China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC).

The government approved two CGN nuclear power units using the Hualong One for Fangchenggang in December 2014.

The CNNC has already started work on another pilot nuclear power project using the Hualong One in southeast China's Fujian Province.

Xing Ji, chief designer of Hualong One, said China owns the complete intellectual property rights to Hualong One and the pilot project will help China's nuclear power equipment find a market overseas.

China plans to reach 58 million kilowatts of installed nuclear capacity by 2020.

The country has actively promoted Hualong One at home and abroad, with an agreement with Argentina in November guaranteeing the use of it in the fifth nuclear plant in Argentina, a key emerging market for Chinese companies.