Smart hardware products manufacturer Huaqing Technology Co Ltd on Feb 14 signed up to build an automotive electronics research and development center and an intelligent manufacturing center in the Lin-gang Special Area, Shanghai.

The Lin-gang Special Area Administration and Shanghai-headquartered Huaqing sign an agreement on Feb 14 for the company to move operations there. [Photo/WeChat account: shlgguanweihui]

The two projects, located on a 232-mu site (about 154,666 square meters), will cost 3.7 billion yuan ($583.5 million). The plant and R&D center will have a total floorspace of 360,000 sq m.

They are projected to be completed and start operating in 2025. The facilities are expected to generate annual revenue of over 14 billion yuan by 2030 and attract nearly 5,000 top-flight staff in the automotive electronics field.

The automobile industry in the Lin-gang Special Area was the first sector there to top a scale of 100 billion yuan, being valued at 179.4 billion yuan in 2021. The area's vehicle production in 2021 exceeded 750,000 units for the first time, accounting for a quarter of Shanghai's total output.

Meanwhile, the number of intelligent new energy vehicle enterprises in Lin-gang has exceeded 100 for the first time, covering the whole industrial supply chain of R&D, manufacturing, trading and testing.