German cable giant Leoni launches new project in East China

NANJING -- German cable giant Leoni has inked a deal to invest $100 million in producing automotive cables for new energy vehicles (NEVs) in the city of Changzhou, East China's Jiangsu province.

The project, located in Changzhou's Xinbei district, will focus on the production of automotive cables for NEVs, particularly in the fields of charging and in-car entertainment systems. It is estimated to increase the annual sales of Leoni's Changzhou plant by 360 million yuan (about $50.65 million), the company said.

Leoni entered Changzhou in 1992, establishing the first German-funded enterprise in the city. The Changzhou plant now boasts annual sales of more than 2 billion yuan.

Changzhou saw its gross domestic product (GDP) exceed 1 trillion yuan in 2023. With a dense cluster of top-notch battery and NEV makers, it has been dubbed as a "capital of new energy" as the output value of the new energy industry in Changzhou reached 750 billion yuan last year.

Marcus Malzahn, vice president and chief operating officer of the automotive standard cables business unit at Leoni, said that they will make full use of Changzhou's advantages in the new energy industry and expand production.

Zhou Qing, Party chief of Xinbei district, said that the district now gathers more than 50 German-funded manufacturing enterprises.

"Thanks to the rapid growth of Changzhou's new energy industry, many auto parts companies in the district have flourished in recent years. And we want to share development opportunities with more German companies in the field of new energy," Zhou said.