U.S. carmaker Tesla’s Shanghai energy storage Megafactory begun trial production Tuesday.

The Megafactory, the firm’s first energy storage facility outside the U.S., took just seven months to build and is set to start mass production in the first quarter of 2025.

The facility, which manufactures Megapacks, has an annual production capacity of 10,000 units, equal to around 40 gigawatt-hours of energy storage, according to the company.

The project, Tesla’s second plant in Shanghai, manifests the U.S. company’s confidence in the Chinese economy and commitment to investing in China, Wu Qisheng, a researcher at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, was quoted by Xinhua as saying.

Trial production was launched just seven months after construction began, setting a new record for “Tesla speed” in China, with the Shanghai Gigafactory having been built and inaugurated within a year in 2019.

Covering an area of approximately 200,000 square meters, the new plant represents a total investment of about 1.45 billion yuan (US$201.7 million), according to the administration of the Lin-gang Special Area of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone.

At the Megafactory’s launch ceremony in May, Tesla signed a deal with Shanghai Lingang Economic Development (Group) Co., Ltd., securing the first batch of orders for its Megapacks in China.

Lauding China’s efforts to develop the new energy industry, including the energy storage sector, Tesla Vice President Tao Lin in May told Xinhua that the country offers a complete industrial chain, vast market potential, and a production and business environment crucial for company growth.

As a global renewables powerhouse, China is a major market for energy storage. In 2023, its installed renewable energy capacity surpassed its thermal power capacity for the first time, accounting for about half of all additions to the global renewable energy capacity.

Wu Xinbo, head of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University, credited the rapid construction of Tesla’s new factory to China’s world-class infrastructure capabilities and the exceptional business environment offered by Shanghai and the Chinese market.

Tesla is not alone in doubling down investment in the Chinese market. A record 52,379 foreign-invested companies were established in China in the first 11 months of 2024, an 8.9% increase from the previous year.

Throughout 2024, the Chinese Government has rolled out a range of measures to foster a facilitating environment for global investors.

A key move was the roll-out of the 2024 national negative list for foreign investment, effective Nov. 1, which removed all market access restrictions for foreign investors in China’s manufacturing sectors. (Xinhua)