Jefferies' former China managing director Li Kunlong has joined Geely's Lotus Technology as chief financial officer in August, cls.cn reported Friday.

Lotus Technology announced on August 31 that it had received an investment from Nio Capital, the venture capital arm of Nio. The company would raise further funding, the report said, without providing further details.

Geely acquired Lotus in 2017, owning 51 percent of the latter, including Lotus Cars and Lotus Engineering.

The 73-year-old brand announced Tuesday that it has formed a new company in China, Wuhan Lotus Technology, with an investment from Nio Capital.

Lotus did not disclose the exact amount of the investment or the valuation. But Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, said the company was valued at 15 billion yuan ($2.3 billion) in its latest round of funding.

William Li, the founder of Nio and Managing Partner of Nio Capital, saw the launch of Lotus Technology at its launch event.

Lotus announced Tuesday that the company plans to launch four pure electric smart cars within five years.

These include the E-Class (mid-size) smart all-electric SUV codenamed TYPE132, the E-Class all-electric smart four-door coupe TYPE133, the new all-electric smart model TYPE134, and the all-electric small sports car TYPE135.

Lotus will also launch its independently built architecture EPA, which helps cars accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in 3 seconds.

Geely's Lotus forms new firm in China and secures NIO Capital investment