Generating confidence in Spain as the ideal place to develop projects and lay the foundations for future collaborations in the automotive field have been the work objectives of the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism in office, Reyes Maroto, on the fourth day of her Trip to china.
Visit to JAC Motors
Maroto visited the JAC Motors plant in the city of Hefei and met with the general manager, Xiang Xingchu, to whom he has transferred the importance of the joint ventures of the company with Banco de Santander and SEAT-Volkswagen. "They are a good principle to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the transition to new energy vehicles," said Maroto.
After visiting the NIO plant and knowing several models of electric vehicles manufactured by SEAT-Volkswagen, he held a working meeting with officials from JAC, Volkswagen-SEAT and Banco de Santander. The minister described the strengths of Spain as the ideal country to identify and develop projects related to the manufacture of new energy vehicles: "Spain offers great opportunities as a global platform for the development of the electric vehicle, due to the strength of the manufacturers' sectors and components, our business fabric and our exporting capacity ". He highlighted the Government's support for the Spanish automotive sector and mentioned the Protocol signed this week in Shanghai by ICEX and China EV100 to define joint projects and strengthen collaboration in the development of electric vehicles in the fields of technology and R & D.
Visit to Guoxuan High Tech
In the afternoon he visited the facilities of Guoxuan Hi-Tech, a company that researches, develops, produces and sells lithium batteries for electric vehicles. Maroto has expressed to the president of the company, Mr. Li Zhen, the importance that the Government gives to the development of the electric vehicle, as well as the objectives of progressively increasing production in Spain and consolidating alliances with Chinese manufacturers so that in the medium term they develop in our country investment projects in the field of batteries: "In order to develop the new electric vehicle models we need a manufacturer, a partner with whom we can develop projects for the future, both in Spain and in Europe."
He mentioned the incentive program for the purchase of electric vehicles to stimulate demand, the development of research projects in universities and technology centers, the commitment of the main Spanish electric companies to develop investments to improve the charging infrastructure, and the good results of the penetration studies carried out by the public company Red Eléctrica de España.
Guoxuan Hi-Tech is the third largest battery manufacturer in China, has six R & D platforms in the world and has signed strategic partnerships with different car manufacturers.
Meeting with local Anhui authorities
The minister has also met with the deputy governor of Anhui Province, Mr. Zhou Xi'an, the mayor of Hefei, Ms. Ling Yun, and other local authorities. He stressed that the good institutional relationship between China and Spain is the appropriate framework for the development of projects of mutual interest in advanced manufacturing, especially in the automotive sector.
He also pointed out the willingness of the Ministry of Industry to be present at the next World Manufactures Conference (World Manufacturing Convention), as well as to encourage the participation of Spanish companies in the aforementioned event, which will take place in Hefei from June 19 to 23. September.
The institutional trip of Reyes Maroto to China ends tomorrow with visits to the plants of the companies BYD and BAK in Shenzen.