On Feb. 16, Anqing Welling Auto Parts Co., Ltd. (“Anqing Welling”), a subsidiary of Chinese home appliance giant Midea Group Co., Ltd., held signing and ground-breaking ceremonies for its strategic new energy vehicle (NEV) auto parts manufacturing base in Anqing city, Anhui province, according to a post on Midea's WeChat account.

According to the corporate database Tianyancha, Anqing Welling was incorporated on Jan. 12 with a registered capital of 200 million yuan ($31.55 million). It is indirectly wholly held by Guangdong Welling Auto Parts Co., Ltd, which is co-controlled by Midea Group and Foshan Midea Air Conditioning Industry Investment Co., Ltd. The subsidiary features a line of businesses covering manufacturing, R&D, and wholesale of auto parts.

The new NEV component manufacturing project will involve a total investment of around 11 billion yuan ($1.735 billion), about 6.5 billion yuan ($1.025 billion) of which will be poured for fixed assets. Under the project, facilities will be constructed to produce such products as power-assisted steering motors, electrical compressors and drive motors for NEVs. Additionally, three R&D centers (focusing on thermal management system, main drive system, and driver-assistance/intelligent driving systems, respectively) and a national-level laboratory will be built there.

Upon completion of the construction, the Anqing-located base will feature a production capacity of 60 million sets per year with the ability to output a production value of 40 billion yuan ($6.31 billion) annually.

In the NEV domain, Midea Group has currently formed three product lines dedicated to thermal management, electric drive, and intelligent driving respectively. It is ambitious to enter the supply chain of half of the world's mainstream NEV manufacturers this year, a person with direct knowledge said last month.