BAIC plans 3 new-energy vehicle plants

The BAIC Group, one of China's biggest automobile companies, says it plans to invest 1.7 billion yuan ($272 million) into the research and production of new-energy cars within the next three years.

The State-owned automaker is going to construct three plants of new-energy vehicles before 2015, which will cover an area of 4,500 mu (300 hectares) with a production capacity of 150,000 vehicles annually, said Li Zhili, a member of the board of Beijing-based BAIC Group, on Wednesday.

The company's planned new-energy vehicles include hybrid electric vehicles that use both traditional fuel and batteries, pure electrical vehicles that use batteries, and fuel-cell vehicles that rely on the electricity produced from the chemical reaction of hydrogen and ethanol, Li said.

The company has established a plant in the suburban Daxing district of Beijing with 40 thousand units' capacity of vehicle production, which makes new-energy vehicles and key components such as batteries and motors, he told reporters from both China and abroad during a news conference.

The reporters were invited by the press center of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Journalists from overseas and Chinese mainland media have visited some places in Beijing, Hebei province and Tianjin since Saturday.

BAIC Group sold 1.54 million units of vehicles last year, achieving revenue of 200.97 billion yuan with a profit of 15.77 billion yuan, and the revenue and profit rank fourth in China's automobile industry, Li said.