Shanghai, June 20, ZXZC - SAIC Group will hold foundation stone laying ceremony for two joint-venture companies with CATL in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province. The two sides will invest more than RMB 10b to establish a highly-intelligent, green and environment-friendly battery production base, to actively promote the transformation and upgrade of Chinese auto industry.

It’s learned that CATL SAIC will engage in the development, production, sales and after-sales services of lithium batteries and lithium polymer batteries with a registered capital of RMB 2b. SAIC CATL will engage in the development, production and sales of power battery system with a registered capital of RMB 300m. The project plans to establish the construction of power battery with a total capacity of 36GWH, occupying an area exceeding 2,000 acres. The first period of investment with RMB 10b occupies an area of 800 acres, which is planned to start at the end of 2018 with an annual capacity of 18 GWH.

As the only domestic auto company involving PHEV, BEV and fuel cell, SAIC Group masters three key technologies in alternative energy vehicles. It launched advanced Roewe eRX5 PHEV SUV, Roewe ERX5 BEV SUV, Maxus FCV fuel cell light-weighted buses and other alternative energy vehicles. It plans to invest more than 20b in more than 30 alternative energy models during the “13th-five” period.

As the largest domestic power battery manufacturer, CATL aims to produce the safest battery across the world. Currently, CATL has established the complete R&D and manufacturing system on power and storage batteries. It has achieved the whole-chain layout on materials, battery cell, battery system and battery recycling. It owns five independently developed key technological advantages. CATL has a total shipment volume of 6.8 GWh in 2016, becoming a first-class and leading Chinese power battery provider.