Nio's turnaround in fate last year brought great honor to the central Chinese province of Anhui, which supported it. Now, the province is returning the favor with policies that support the electric vehicle company's growth.
The Anhui provincial government recently began soliciting public comments for the province's 2021-2023 energy-saving and environmental protection industry development plan. According to the full document seen by CnEVPost, it explicitly mentions support for Nio.
The document lists Anhui's goals for the next three years:
The output value of the energy-saving and environmental protection industry will grow at an annual rate of more than 25 percent, and by 2023, the industry's output value will exceed 400 billion yuan ($62 billion), accounting for 8 percent of Anhui's GDP and becoming one of the province's pillar industries.
The province will cultivate a number of large energy-saving and environmental protection enterprises with strong competitiveness and visibility in China. The goal is to get 20 energy-saving and environmental protection enterprises with annual sales revenue of RMB 1 billion or more, 10 enterprises with annual sales revenue of RMB 5 billion or more, and 2 to 3 enterprises with annual sales revenue of RMB 10 billion or more.
The province will build more than 10 industrial parks with an annual output value of more than RMB 20 billion.
By 2025, companies in the province will have overcome 10 or more key technologies, solved practical problems and achieved transformation and application, and built 10 or more technology innovation and public service platforms.
To reach these goals, the document mentions supporting Nio and its OEM JAC to actively overcome difficulties in key energy-saving technologies and core areas.
These efforts will be used to create a production base for energy-efficient vehicles in China so that core components can be produced locally.
This is the first time we have seen Anhui offer support to Nio in a provincial document after its capital city Hefei, where Nio China is headquartered, offered support to the company.
The financing provided by Hefei saved Nio from the brink of death in late 2019 to early 2020 as it faced a severe capital chain crisis.
William Li, the founder, chairman and CEO of Nio, has repeatedly said that Nio underwent extreme stress tests in 2019 and was able to recover from the intensive care unit thanks to the support of Anhui and Hefei.
After Nio reorganized itself, it set up its China headquarters in Hefei. So far Nio China headquarters has 1000 employees.
(Nio China's headquarters in Hefei.)
In February this year, Hefei Municipal People's Government and Nio signed a framework agreement to deepen cooperation, and both sides agreed to jointly plan and build the Xinqiao Intelligent Electric Vehicle Industrial Park to create a world-class intelligent electric vehicle industrial cluster with a complete industrial chain.
The construction of the park, called Neo Park, officially started on April 29. The park will invest RMB 50 billion in the first phase, and the total annual output value will reach RMB 500 billion. It will have an annual production capacity of 1 million vehicles and 100GWh of batteries.
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