(Yicai Global) Dec. 26 -- Shares in Xiamen 35.com Technology surged by the exchange-imposed limit today after the Chinese developer of software and online games, which has been losing money for years, said it plans to invest CNY2.5 billion (USD358.3 million) to build a solar cell factory as the firm actively seeks out new streams of revenue.

35.com’s share price [SHE:300051] jumped 20 percent to hit CNY8.75 (USD1.25). Stocks listed on the Nasdaq-style ChiNext board have a maximum fluctuation of 20 percent either way each day, as opposed to 10 percent on the main boards.

Unit Tianjin 35.Com Mobile Communication will build a facility for heterojunction-with-an-intrinsic-thin-layer solar cells with a yearly capacity of five gigawatts, 35.com said yesterday, citing the agreement inked with the local government of Danleng county, under Meishan city in southwestern Sichuan province.

HJT solar cells boast higher energy output compared with conventional photovoltaic cells, thereby lowering the costs of PV power generation.

The factory will be built in two stages and should be ready by December 2024, the Xiamen, southeastern Fujian province-based firm said. The first phase, costing CNY1 billion (USD143.4 million), will have an annual output of 2 GW and should be finished before next December. The second phase, costing CNY1.5 billion, will have a capacity of 3 GW.

35.com intends to inject CNY272 million (USD39 million) into the Tianjin unit and introduce 13 investors including PV firm New Hosun Group which will bring in another CNY300 million, the parent firm said in a separate statement yesterday.

35.com’s losses nearly tripled in the first three quarters from the same period last year to CNY20.7 million (USD3 million), while revenue slumped 2.1 percent to CNY139 million (USD19.9 million), according to its latest earnings report. The firm has been in loss since 2018.

Editor: Kim Taylor