The United Kingdom has reiterated its openness to Chinese investment in the country's nuclear power industry, a senior British official has said.

"Britain is the most open economy in the world, and that goes for our energy markets as well. So there is absolutely no reason why Chinese companies can't enter our markets. I couldn't be clearer than that," Ed Davey, British energy and climate change secretary, said in an interview with China Daily.

His comments came amid heated debate about China General Nuclear Power Group's talks to share the costs of Electricite de France SA's planned power station at Hinkley Point in southwest England. The project has an estimated cost of 14 billion pounds ($22 billion).