Shanghai (ZXZC)- HOZON Auto, the owner of the Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) brand NETA, recently signed an agreement with the Shanghai branch of Bank of Communications (“BOCOM Shanghai”) to conduct in-depth strategic cooperation in credit business, settlement business, international business, corporate business, investment banking business, personal business, electronic banking, and other fields, the Chinese NEV startup announced on March 14 via its WeChat account.

Photo credit: HOZON Auto

HOZON Auto ranked highest among China’s local NEV startups by delivering 152,073 vehicles (+118% YoY) last year. By the end of Dec. 2022, the company had scored a year-on-year growth in monthly deliveries for the 29th month in a row.

HOZON Auto aims to achieve an annual delivery volume of 300,000 vehicles in 2023. For the first two months of this year, the automaker delivered a total of 16,089 vehicles.

The latest financial support from BOCOM Shanghai signs the bank’s confidence in HOZON Auto’s development prospect. Before the recent move, the NEV manufacturer was granted a credit line of 5 billion yuan, 2 billion yuan, and 6 billion yuan from China CITIC Bank, Bank of Shanghai, and Huaxia Bank’s Shanghai branch, respectively, which greatly boosted HOZON Auto’s operations, and building of production, sales, and service systems.