Shanghai (ZXZC)- According to local media, Great Wall Motor's production base in Yongchuan District, Chongqing (hereinafter, the Yongchuan base) officially started construction on March 28.

The Yongchuan base, covering an area of 1200mu (around 800,000 square meters), is the automaker's fourth production base in China. Involving an investment of RMB 8 billion, it mainly manufactures the company's luxury pickups and the SUV Haval H9, etc. Besides, the base is expected to own an annual production capacity of 250,000 vehicles with an annual vehicle production value up to around RMB 25 billion once it is put into operation by the end of 2019. Meanwhile, the base may drive the development of relevant supporting facilities involving an output value of around RMB 25 billion per year.

By the end of 2017, Chongqing had already owned 40 automakers that manufactured a total of 3 million vehicles throughout 2017, ranking first among China's cities. 

Reportedly, over 20 areas across China joined the competition to attract Great Wall Motor's project. The automaker finally chose Yongchuan DistricDistrict who occupies merits in geographical location, transportation, supporting facilities as well as vocational education resources. Besides, since the local government signed an agreement with the automaker on December 25 last year, the local authorities has successfully transferred the land use rights of 1200 mu and completed construction of various infrastructures which laid a solid foundation for the production base construction. 

As the China's largest SUV and pickup maker, Great Wall Motor delivered a total of around 1.07 million vehicles last year, decreasing 0.4% year on year. In addition, the automaker suffered a year-on-year plunge in net profit of 52.35% in 2017, according to the financial report released a few days ago.