On February 2, 2021, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) and the Guangdong Provincial Government signed a framework agreement for strategic cooperation in Guangzhou. The Zhaoqing Municipal Government, Guangdong Province Navigation Group, Guangzhou Public Transport Group Co., Ltd., and Guangzhou Environmental Protection Investment Group Co., Ltd. respectively signed framework agreements for strategic cooperation with CATL. The governor of Guangdong Province Ma Xingrui and chairman of CATL Robin Zeng attended and witnessed the signing ceremony. 

The signing ceremony for the CATL EV and Energy Storage Battery Zhaoqing Project (Phase I) means that the CATL Production Base is now officially based in Zhaoqing, marking a new chapter in cooperation for both sides. 

CATL will invest in Zhaoqing, Guangdong by building a lithium-ion battery production base. According to Phase I planning, the designed capacity is 25 GWh, with a total investment of 12 billion yuan (about 1.857 billion U.S. dollars). CATL will build the industrial chain involving EV battery cells, lithium-ion battery material, energy storage application, battery recycling, NEVs, motors, electric control, etc. Also, CATL will carry out comprehensive cooperation in the industrial frontier sectors. CATL aims to achieve 150 GWh lithium-ion battery capacity and develop ancillary industries by the end of 2030 to boost the formation of a trillion-yuan-level industry cluster of the new energy industry.

Against the backdrop of peaking carbon emissions and achieving carbon neutrality globally, this strategic cooperation not only is a vital measure of CATL for building a closed-loop lithium-ion battery industrial chain and enhancing its global competitiveness, but will also help Guangdong become a world-leading comprehensive base of the new energy industry. That is of vital significance for the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Guangdong Province.