FAW-Volkswagen Automotive Co Ltd, the Sino-German joint venture headquartered in Changchun, capital of Northeast China’s Jilin province, held a foundation stone laying ceremony on Oct 28 for a new technology development center.

Officials said the project, with investment of nearly 1 billion yuan ($141.76 million), is expected to greatly boost the company’s research and innovation capabilities following completion.

The center is one of the company’s major projects in Changchun and will accelerate its upgrading in the auto sector in Changchun and even in Northeast China, according to Liu Yigong, general manager of the company.

Covering a construction area of 69,900 square meters, the center will focus on research on safety tests, performances and durability tests, intelligent light developments, driving system developments and verification, and more, and will upgrade and improve test equipment and facilities for new energy vehicles.

Established in 1991, FAW-Volkswagen Automotive currently has five production plants in China, namely Changchun in Jilin province, Foshan in Guangdong province, Chengdu in Sichuan province, Qingdao in Shandong province and in Tianjin.

Over the past 28 years, the company sold more than 19 million vehicles and last year it sold 2.05 million vehicles, for year-on-year growth of 2.6 percent.

It has been increasing its research investment over the recent years – amounting to billions of yuan each year –and the company’s research and development team now boasts more than 2,000 people.

Officials lay the foundation stone for the new technology development center in Changchun, Jilin province, on Oct 28. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A design sketch of FAW-Volkswagen’s new technology development center [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]