With the arrival of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Limited from the Chinese region of Ningde, a global market leader in the fields of electromobility and energy storage systems is setting up in Thuringia. CATL is one of the key global players in the development and production of lithium ion batteries. The corporation’s business areas encompass research, development, production and distribution of battery systems. According to SNE Research, CATL was a global leader in production in 2018 with an output of 21.31 GWh.
The corporation was founded in 2011 by Robin Zeng and has been headquartered in Ningde ever since. After a period of rapid growth, CATL now employs around 24,000 staff worldwide. In light of the drastically increasing demand for lithium ion batteries due to the upswing in the popularity of electromobility, the corporation’s growth has been extremely dynamic; international automotive manufacturers recently awarded contracts worth millions to CATL. The corporation has subsidiaries in Beijing, Liyang (Jiangsu Province), Shanghai and Xining (Qinghai Province), as well as in Munich, Paris, Yokohama, Detroit and Vancouver. Furthermore, the corporation operates battery production facilities in the Chinese provinces of Fujian, Jiangsu and Qinghai. In June 2018, the company was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. With its investment in Thuringia, CATL is building its first production facility outside of China.