What’s new: Chinese battery-maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) (300750.SZ) said it will invest up to 13.5 billion yuan ($2 billion) in the construction of a lithium-ion battery factory in Yichun city in Southeast China’s Jiangxi province.
CATL said in an announcement Monday on WeChat (link in Chinese) that it had signed a cooperation agreement with the city government to build the factory over an area of 1,300 mu — approximately 866,500 square meters — to boost the company’s production capacity and meet expansion needs.
The Fujian-based company also inked deals in Yichun for a joint venture with state-owned Yichun Mining Co. Ltd., and a collaboration with electric carmaker Hozon Auto, both to strengthen “upstream and downstream production processes.”
The background: The latest announcement follows a strategic cooperation framework that CATL signed with the Jiangxi provincial government and Yichun government in Nanchang in late July.
Authorities in Yichun, which is aiming to become “Asia’s lithium capital” due to its abundance of lepidolite mines, have been actively wooing lithium battery-makers and their investments in the city.
In May, CATL rival Gotion High-tech Co. Ltd. (002074.SZ) began construction in the city of a factory to produce lithium carbonate and other lithium-ion battery supplementary materials with an investment of 11.5 billion yuan.
Contact reporter Kelsey Cheng (kelseycheng@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)
Get our weekly free Must-Read newsletter.
