A groundbreaking ceremony for a new type of automotive fuel tank and mechanical components – to be located in An'feng town in Xinghua city, in East China's Jiangsu province – took place on March 29.
Costing 550 million yuan ($76.04 million), the plant will be operated by Songteng Machinery and Electronics Technology (Jiangsu) Co Ltd in Xinghua.
A three-level factory for the new type of automotive fuel tank and mechanical parts and an adjacent five-story office building will have a total floor space of 43,000 square meters.
By introducing 836 sets of advanced equipment, the plant will build three new automobile fuel tank production lines and two mechanical parts production lines.
On completion it will manufacture 600,000 fuel tanks and 8 million mechanical components annually, generating 500 million yuan in annual sales.
Compared with traditional steel fuel tanks, the new fuel tank the plant will produce can reduce the unit's weight by 60 percent, while also possessing higher antioxidant properties, corrosion resistance and compressive strength.
The earliest manufacturing hub in Xinghua, since the 1980s An'feng town has grown to establish a vibrant mechanical manufacturing sector that mainly focuses on auto parts.
Currently, it is home to 87 automobile parts and machinery manufacturing manufacturers.