China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN), the country's largest nuclear operator in terms of capacity, plans to set up regional headquarters in Malaysia to push business in Southeast Asian countries, CGN said on Tuesday.

The company, known as CGN Southeast Asia, is expected to enhance the development and investment of clean energy in the region, said Zhang Shanming, CGN President, during the opening ceremony.

The nuclear giant became the biggest foreign direct investor in Malaysia after it completed an equity purchase deal with Malaysian energy company Edra Global Energy. It will buy 13 clean energy projects in Malaysia, Egypt, Bengal, Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with a total overseas installed capacity of 8.85 gigawatts.

The deal also enabled the state company to become the largest independent power producer in Egypt and Bangladesh.

CGN said it will retain all of Edra's existing staff to utilize their skills and resources.

"Edra's human resources are the most important assets of the company. The team has a wealth of management experience and professional experience, laying a solid foundation for our next phase of development," Zhang said.

Before the acquisition, CGN tried to diversify its business beyond nuclear energy with development of other forms of clean energy, including solar power, wind power, biomass and natural gas. Its projects cover countries such as the United States, Australia, Singapore, South Korea, the United Kingdom and France.

The total installed capacity of CGN's nuclear energy from both operating projects and those under construction amounted to over 32.4 GW, while solar power installed capacity reached 1.2 GW, so far.