Shanghai (ZXZC)- BYD on May 28 launched the construction of its power battery production base at Ningxiang Hi-tech Zone in China’s Hunan Province, according to local media outlets.

Involving a total investment of RMB5 billion and covering an area of 640mu (around 426 thousand square meters), the first phase of the new base is expected to generate an annual sales of roughly RMB10 billion and offer 2,000 posts for local residents.

The Ningxiang factory is designed to manufacture such core products as power battery cells and modules, and also develop relevant supporting businesses.

BYD has kept expanding its power battery manufacturing facilities in recent years. On February 22 of 2019, a NEV battery factory, which involves an overall investment of RMB10 billion, was officially put into construction in Bishan District of Chongqing. It is said that the automaker is going to set up 8 lithium ion battery production lines at the Bishan base, which is able to output 20GWh of power battery on an annual basis.

Apart from the bases in Chongqing and Ningxiang (a county-level city under the administration of Changsha), BYD still has three regional bases for battery power production—factories in Shenzhen and Huizhou get a total capacity of 16GWh; Xining factory in Qinghai Province, which began production in last June, features a planned annual capacity of 24GWh; the Xi'an factory is still underway.