Zeeker inaugurates headquarters in Ningbo
A Zeeker 001 rolls off the production line in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/Ningbo Daily]
Geely's premium electric car brand has set up its headquarters in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province.
According to the agreement reached by Zeeker and the city's Beilun district on March 29, the headquarters located in Ningbo Economic and Technological Development Zone will focus on the R&D, production and sales of Zeeker electric cars, and is expected to hire 1,500 R&D personnel within three years.
The move marks an expansion of Zeeker's investments in Ningbo following its establishment of a factory in the city last June. The car maker launched its first car model Zeeker 001 on Oct 23, 2021. As of the end of February, it had delivered 12,000 units of Zeeker 001.
In the first two months of this year, the added value of the city's auto industry surged 21.6 percent year-on-year to 13.34 billion yuan ($2.05 billion), official statistics show.
Geely, one of the largest carmakers in China, already has a big business presence in Ningbo.
In early 2020, it relocated the headquarters of its subsidiary Geely Auto Group to Ningbo and set up a 50-50 joint venture with German car company Daimler AG in the city to produce electric vehicles for global markets.
Ningbo is currently home to four headquarters of Geely's subsidiaries.
Zeeker's headquarters is just one of the 22 investment deals with a combined value of more than 40 billion yuan reached in Beilun on March 29.
The other deals involve sectors including digital economy, healthcare, international trade, biomedicine and intelligent manufacturing.