In addition to Nio, the central Chinese city of Hefei is attracting more car companies to set up operations there.

Hefei BYD Automotive Co was established on July 12 with a registered capital of RMB 1 billion ($154 million), according to information from data provider Qichacha.

The company's business scope includes manufacturing of auto parts and accessories, sales of new energy vehicles, and research and development of auto parts.

Just yesterday, CnEVPost reported that Yu Aihua, the Communist Party chief of Hefei, recently held a meeting with BYD CEO Wang Chuanfu to promote comprehensive strategic cooperation.

Both sides believe that Hefei has formed a good intelligent electric vehicle industry and is an ideal partner for innovative companies, while BYD has a strong technology market base, according to the announcement.

Construction of the "relevant project" between the two will start at the end of August, the announcement said.

The announcement did not reveal more details about the project, but there are predictions that the project, which is BYD's bus and new energy vehicle production line, will be built in Xiaotang Town, Changfeng County, with an investment of up to RMB 20 billion.

It is worth noting that BYD's new energy power battery production base project has been located in Hefei since the end of 2020. The total investment of the project is RMB 6 billion and it is mainly about the manufacturing of new energy battery cells, modules and other important products.

At present, Hefei has brought together more than 120 new energy vehicle enterprises and formed a complete industrial chain.

From January to May this year, the city produced 45,600 new energy vehicles, up 2.4 times year-over-year, and the output value increased 63.6 percent year-over-year.

BYD sold 41,366 new energy vehicles in June, up 192 percent from a year ago and 26 percent from May.

It sold 40,116 new energy passenger vehicles in June, including 20,016 pure electric vehicles and 20,100 plug-in hybrids.