Asensing to build manufacturing facility in Shanghai

Asensing, a Chinese startup specializing in high-precision positioning technology, is building a large manufacturing base involving production and research and development in Shanghai, one of China's most important automotive manufacturing hubs.

The company announced the plan on Thursday. The base, which is located in the Lin-gang New Area, will start production in 2024. Spread over 36,000 square meters, its annual capacity will reach millions of high-performance positioning sensor suites.

In five years, its R&D and production staff at the manufacturing base will number around 1,000, said the company.

On the same day, Asensing also unveiled a research facility in Lin-gang.

Li Rongxi, founder and CEO of Asensing, said the unveiling of the research facility and the plan to build the manufacturing base are significant for the company's global development.

Shanghai's Lin-gang New Area is home to a number of smart electric car companies and suppliers, including Tesla, SAIC Motor as well as SenseTime.

The new area's annual output in the automotive industry is expected to reach 400 billion yuan ($59.68 billion) in 2025.

Established in 2014, Asensing started to roll out mass-produced solutions in 2018 as the first of its kind in China.

Now it is selling its products to over 200 automotive and smart driving companies. The company has established three branches outside of China, in the United States, Germany and Japan.

Asensing said its pre-installed high-precision positioning products have equipped nearly 500,000 vehicles.

Smart electric vehicles are expected to pave a new road of development for China's auto industry, said Zhang Yongwei, vice-president of China EV 100, a major think tank in the new energy vehicle sector.