(Yicai Global) June 22 -- Sunwoda Electronic’s shares hit their highest in three months after the Chinese lithium-ion battery maker said it plans to partner with Nissan Motor to develop a new traction battery for the Japanese automaker’s next-generation ePower hybrid power system.

Sunwoda’s stock price [SHE: 300207] closed 5.9 percent higher today at CNY19.46 (USD21.80), after surging almost 9 percent to CNY20.03, the highest since March 10.

The tie-up is still at the stage of signing a memorandum of understanding and no substantive binding agreement has been reached yet, the Shenzhen-based company said in a statement yesterday evening. Sunwoda and Nissan will also establish an efficient production system to ensure stable supply capacity, it added.

The statement also did not disclose preliminary planning details for future cooperation between the two. It said only that under Nissan’s plan, the Yokohama-based carmaker aims to sell more than 1 million electric vehicles in fiscal 2023, including hybrids equipped with its e-Power system and all-electric cars.

This would not be the first time that Sunwoda and Nissan have cooperated. The battery maker received a notice from Renault–Nissan Alliance early in April last year, in which it was picked as a designated traction battery supplier. But Sunwoda has yet to make bulk deliveries to the alliance.

Editor: Peter Thomas