China Auto Company Investing $819M in South Africa Plant

Beijing Automotive International Corp. (BAIC) signed an agreement to build a new automobile manufacturing facility in a Port Elizabeth, South Africa industrial development, multiple news outlets reported.

The move by the Chinese state-owned auto maker represents the largest investment in the African continent’s automotive sector in four decades, a CNBC Africa report noted.

“The size of this investment demonstrates confidence by China and confidence in South Africa as an investment destination,” the country’s trade and industry minister Rob Davies said in a statement, Bloomberg reported Friday.

The location selected by BAIC is “an automotive hub and has the potential of deepening the component supply chain, job creation, and economic development,” Davies said, according to Bloomberg.

In the first phase of development, the Port Elizabeth facility will have a production capacity of 40,000 to 50,000 cars annually, South Africa’s Independent Online’s coverage said.

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