(Yicai) Nov. 1 -- Shares in Suzhou TZTEK Technology advanced as much as 4.7 percent today after the Chinese high-precision machine vision equipment manufacturer said it will develop smart driving hardware and supporting software for a leading Chinese carmaker.

TZTEK’s share price [SHA: 688003] closed up 2.2 percent at CNY35.66 (USD4.90) a share today. Earlier in the day it hit CNY36.54.

TZTEK will make intelligent driving controllers for the client, who was not named due to a confidentiality agreement, the Suzhou-based company said yesterday, citing the deal signed between the two parties. It must complete the development, testing, production and delivery of the samples within a specified timeframe.

Although the customer was not named, TZTEK did say that it ranks among the top 200 companies in the Fortune 500 and is one of this year’s top 20 automakers. SAIC Motor, FAW Group, Guangzhou Automobile Group, Dongfeng Motor and Beijing Auto all fit this description.

TZTEK’s intelligent driving controllers will be installed on the auto giant’s new models, it said. This marks a breakthrough in the company’s development of these technologies, it added.

The deal is tied to product development instead of mass production, so there is still a risk of it being altered or terminated for different reasons, TZTEK said. The deal is not expected to have a significant impact on its operating results this year.

TZTEK's smart driving equipment is mainly made up of artificial intelligence edge computing controllers and self-driving domain controllers. The latter contains automotive-grade AI chips for high-level self-driving passenger cars, according to the company's 2022 financial report.

Editor: Kim Taylor