In the first half of 2022, Wuhan's automobile manufacturing investments enjoyed the fastest growth rate of 43.4 percent compared with other kinds of investments. The Wuhan Economic Technological Development Zone (WEDZ) is the biggest contributor to the city's auto-making investments, attracting nearly 50 billion yuan ($7.42 billion).
Investments in new energy vehicles (NEVs) made up the largest share, with key projects such as Honda NEV, Dongfeng Mengshi, and Lotus owned by giant automaker Geely having set up businesses in WEDZ. Geely's other core auto spare part companies, such as ECARX and SiEngine, are also operating in the zone.
Lithium batteries are one of the major components of NEVs, and the Changzhou-based CALB has invested four times within one year, with the investments totaling 22 billion yuan. Its third-phase project was launched last week.
Being based in the center of an industrial belt makes it more convenient for a company to access raw materials from its upstream partners, as well as the downstream market. Wuhan has become such a place for CALB. "As soon as the lithium battery base begins functioning, we can mitigate domestic NEV power cell anxiety," said Liu Jingyu, president of CALB.
According to Tang Chao, director of the administrative committee of the zone, WEDZ will continue to develop its NEV industrial chain and reach its target of being capable of producing 1 million NEVs annually in the next two to three years.
