Shanghai (ZXZC)- Chinese battery manufacturer CALB (China Lithium Battery Technology Co., Ltd.) on Dec. 29 struck a pact with the Administration Committee of Sichuan Pengshan Economic Development Zone for the investment in a manufacturing project for lithium-ion battery cathode materials, according to a post on CALB's WeChat account.

CALB, the Administration Committee of Sichuan Pengshan Economic Development Zone; photo credit: CALB

Located in Meishan city, Sichuan province, the yet-to-be-built manufacturing base features a designed annual capacity of 100,000-ton cathode materials.

The move came only eight days after CALB formed a strategic partnership with German construction engineering company Drees & Sommer. Under the agreement, CALB will build in Europe a power battery manufacturing base with an annual capacity of over 20GWh.

For the first eleven months of 2021, CALB recorded 7.5GWh of power battery installed capacity, ranking third among power battery manufacturers in China, according to data from China Automotive Power Battery Industry Innovation Alliance (CAPBIIA).

CALB has become a power battery supplier of many legacy OEMs and startups. Its batteries have been installed in the XPeng P7 and P5, and the Leapmotor C11. It also serves such traditional automakers as GAC Group, Changan Auto, GAC Toyota, GAC Honda, SAIC-GM-Wuling, and Geely Auto.

In November, Liu Jingyu, Chairman of CALB, stated at the company's new strategy launching ceremony that CALB aims to hit an annual production battery capacity of 500GWh by 2025, and 1TWh by 2030.