This is BYD's sixth production site in China and currently produces the Qin Plus DM-i and core components including the engine and motor.

The production site, located in Xiatang town, Changfeng county, Hefei, is BYD's sixth production site in China, and the first vehicle rolled off the line less than a year after construction of the plant began on August 28 last year.

The total investment in the project is RMB 15 billion ($2.37 billion), and the first phase of the project will achieve an annual output value of more than RMB 50 billion when it reaches production, according to an article posted on the official WeChat account of the Hefei municipal government on March 11.

The first phase of the project took only 23 days from the beginning of the negotiations between BYD and Hefei to the signing of the contract, and only 42 days from the signing of the contract to the start of construction, Hefei Daily said, adding that the project refreshed the "Hefei Speed" from the signing of the contract to the production of vehicles.

The site currently only produces the Qin Plus DM-i, and in addition to complete vehicles, it also produces core components including engines and motors, according to Hefei Daily.

BYD sold 114,943 vehicles in May, its third consecutive month of more than 100,000 units, bringing its cumulative sales of NEVs to more than 2 million units, according to data released earlier this month.

The Qin family sedan sold 20,753 units in May, with sales of the Qin PLUS EV up 109.9 percent year-on-year, BYD said at the time, without disclosing sales of the Qin Plus DM-i.

In addition to having BYD's production base, Hefei is also home to the JAC-Nio production base. Nio's second plant at NeoPark in Hefei is also currently under construction.

In 2021, Hefei's NEV industry will achieve revenue of RMB 102.95 billion and production of 145,000 units, according to Hefei Daily.

So far, Hefei has 305 NEV companies above the scale, including six car companies - BYD, Nio, Volkswagen Anhui, JAC, Hefei Changan, Ankai Automobile, and battery companies including Gotion High-tech, CALB, according to Hefei Daily.

Before the Hefei base went into production, BYD's five production bases in China were located in Shenzhen, Xi'an, Changsha, Changzhou and Fuzhou. The company is currently building new production bases in Zhengzhou, Jinan and Xiangyang.