Battery maker CATL inks deal to set up production base in Shanghai
FILE PHOTO: A sign of Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL) is seen on its building in Ningde, Fujian province, China August 8, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer
SHANGHAI : Top Chinese electric-vehicle (EV) battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL) signed an agreement to set up a production base in Shanghai, the city's government said on Wednesday.
Reuters reported in June that CATL was planning to build a new battery plant in Shanghai, citing two people with knowledge of the matter, in a move that would put it close to U.S. automaker and key customer Tesla's gigafactory.
The investment pact for the production base was signed by CATL, the management committee of Lingang New Area - part of Shanghai's Pudong district, which is already home to the Tesla plant - and industrial park developer Lingang Group.
The Shanghai government said it also signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement with CATL that would bring CATL's innovation centre and the headquarters of its international business to the city.
CATL said in a separate statement that that agreement would focus on Shanghai's efforts to peak carbon emissions and become carbon neutral. China has pledged to reach peak emissions by 2030 and be carbon neutral by 2060.
(Reporting by Zoey Zhang and Brenda Goh; additional reporting by Yilei Sun; writing by Tom Daly; editing by John Stonestreet)
