Yunnan Investment Holdings and BYD are planning to open new energy vehicle manufacturing plants in Yunnan Province, southwest China.

Both the companies will cooperate in three stages over the coming year.

Under the first stage, the market will be developed with BYD supplying Yunnan Investment Holdings BYD e6 electric taxis to be dispatched in the main cities of Yunnan including Kunming, Qujin, Zhaotong, Honghe, Dali and Wenshen.

Second stage will see both the companies expand the business to electrify urban public transportation with BYD's GreenCity Electric buses.

In the third stage, BYD will work with Yunnan Investment to open a new-energy vehicle manufacturing base to serve all of southwest China and neighboring countries.

BYD chairman Chuanfu Wang said, "BYD is the only enterprise who has pure electric buses, pure electric and environmentally-friendly Iron Phosphate (Fe) battery technology in China."