Government officials and business leaders lay a foundation stone for the SAIC controller production center in Jiuhua town, Rugao, a county-level city in Nantong, on June 28. [Photo by Qiu Yu/cpcrugao.cn]

A foundation laying ceremony for a controller production center sponsored by Shanghai Automotive Industry Co (SAIC) was held in Jiuhua town, Rugao, a county-level city in Nantong, on June 28.

Local government officials, including Zhang Jianhua, secretary of the Rugao Party committee, and senior executives of SAIC such as Zu Sijie, the company's vice-president and chief engineer, attended the ceremony.

The project, signed on April 21, 2019, is located in an automotive part industrial park and covers an area of about six hectares.

The plant will include production lines for through-hole soldering, assembly, and testing, and will be able to produce two million controller units per year.

Zu said that the plant will take full advantage of Rugao's strength in intelligent manufacturing to realize the commercialization of internet of vehicles (IoV) technologies. In return, it will also contribute to industrial upgrading in Rugao.

Zhang agreed with Zu, stating that the project will inject new momentum into Jiuhua's development. He requested that the local government proactively offer support to ensure smooth construction.