(Yicai Global) Feb. 25 -- An electric vehicle unit of state-owned Beijing Automotive Group will partner with two Chinese firms, including Contemporary Amperex Technology, the world's largest lithium battery maker, to secure competitively priced supplies of power units. 

BAIC BJEV has penned five-year deals with CATL and Beijing Pride Power Battery Technology, the buyer's parent BAIC BluePark New Energy Technology said in a statement yesterday. The price will be discounted and specified later in a contact. 

Fujian province-headquartered CATL will establish a joint research and development team with Beijing-based BAIC BJEV to strengthen the latter's competitiveness. Pride Power will be in charge of mass production. 

BAIC BJEV sold 158,000 new energy vehicles last year, increasing 53 percent from a year earlier, despite a sluggish year in domestic auto sales. The company has ranked first for six consecutive years in China in terms of pure electric vehicle sales.  

Established in 2011, CATL installed over 23 gigawatt-hours of storage last year, making up 41 percent of the domestic market, public data shows. 

Editor: Emmi Laine