Shanghai (ZXZC)- BAIC Motor on December 24 agreed with other investors to add capital to the National New Energy Vehicle Technology Innovation Center (National NEV Tech Innovation Center) as part of strategy under which the automaker is pushing ahead with its NEV development.

BAIC Motor along with the other new investors, including Foton Motor, Beijing Hainachuan Automotive Parts Co., Ltd. (BHAP) and four third-party shareholders, approved to contribute an aggregate amount of RMB243,883,492 to the National NEV Tech Innovation Center, at a consideration of RMB251,199,996.76, according to the Beijing-based automaker's announcement. Of which, RMB 48,543,689, RMB48,543,689 and RMB29,126,213 of newly-added registered capital would be subscribed by BAIC Motor, Foton Motor and BHAP respectively.

（Photo source: BAIC Motor's WeChat account)

Upon the completion of the capital increase, the registered capital of the National NEV Tec Innovation Center will be increased to RMB403,883,492 from RMB160 million. The aggregate share of existing shareholders (including BAIC Group, BAIC BJEV and three third-party investors) will be reduced to 39.62%, while the rest part will be held as to 12.02% by BAIC Motor, 12.02% by Foton Motor and 7.21% by BHAP.

The National NEV Tech Innovation Center was unveiled in March, 2018 by the Ministry of Science and Technology and Beijing municipal government. Participants are China's leading NEV manufacturers and R&D institutions, including BAIC Group, Geely, BYD, Baidu and Tsinghua University. It is one of two national technology innovation centers in China. The other one is for high-speed rail.

BAIC Motor said it is forging ahead with its NEV development, and the scheme set for 2019 makes it focus on electrification and auto intelligence & connectivity, motivated by customers' demands and the application of new technologies.

The National NEV Tech Innovational Center focuses on the R&D of industry's cutting-edge and generic & key technologies, and is dedicated to building a comprehensive industrial technology innovation platform that gather resources in an open operational manner under diversified management structures. Notably, its NEV-focused business deployment is highly in tune with BAIC Motor's operational course, the automaker said, thus the investment in the NEV tech center will help BAIC Motor speed up its innovation, carry forward its strategy, and better connect with the market.