Zhang Yang

    nicolezyyy@163.com

    A SOLAR panel factory, which was invested in by the Shenzhen-based carmaker BYD, was inaugurated in Campinas, a city in the Sao Paulo region of Brazil, on Thursday, according to a press release from the company.

    With a total investment of 331 billion yuan (US$48 billion), the factory, which mainly produces photovoltaic solar panels, will create 360 new jobs for the local people.

    “This factory is the best example of BYD’s global new-energy strategy,” said Li Tie, managing director of BYD Brazil. “The company will spare no efforts in bringing more cutting-edge new-energy products to Brazil.”

    BYD announced its plan to build an e-bus factory in Brazil when President Xi Jinping visited Brazil in 2014. In the next year the company inked a contract with Marcopolo, the largest bus manufacturer in Brazil, to assemble its electric vehicles in local factories.

    Currently, 10 e-buses produced by BYD are operating in Campinas, while its electric taxies, logistics vehicles and forklift trucks have also entered the Brazilian market.

    Following the inauguration of the solar panel factory, BYD also announced that it would produce chassis for e-buses in local factories in Brazil as a step to promote the development of the green energy industry in the country.