Tesla plant makes first Megapack exports

Lin-gang Special Area, launched in 2019 as part of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone to better connect domestic and overseas markets, has deepened its two-way opening-up in a bid to address companies' development needs and facilitate the area's high-quality economic growth.

One major step can be seen with Tesla's energy storage facility in Lingang. The Megafactory, the first of its kind that the US electric vehicle maker has built overseas, shipped its Megapack energy storage systems to Australia on March 21, reported Xinhua News Agency.

This shipment marked the first batch of such products manufactured by the Lin-gang plant and shipped overseas.

Megapacks, advanced battery systems designed for large-scale energy projects, can store more than 3,900 kilowatt-hours of electricity in a single unit, enough capacity to power a Tesla Model 3 rear-wheel drive version for 39,000 kilometers.

Subsequent Megapack energy storage systems produced at the Lingang factory will be supplied to the Chinese domestic and Asia-Pacific markets, Xinhua said.

Tesla's new energy storage Megafactory in Lin-gang launched operations on Feb 11 as the factory's first Megapack battery system rolled off the production line.

Covering about 200,000 square meters, the new energy storage project involved a total investment of 1.45 billion yuan ($200 million). Up to 10,000 Megapack storage units are scheduled to be produced there annually.

The Megafactory is the second of its kind for the EV maker, and the Lin-gang plant only took nine months from groundbreaking, stretching from May 2024 to its official launch.

Tesla's founder Elon Musk said in a conference call in late January that it is building a third Megafactory to produce more Megapacks, just as competition in the energy storage sector heats up.

Waller County, Texas, in the United States, approved in early March a tax deal for Tesla to build and operate its Megapack factory in a local industrial park.

Progress has been made in Lingang to facilitate Chinese companies' outbound reaches, with the Lin-gang Special Area Foreign Affairs Center launched recently as evidence of this campaign.

A total of 20 companies, including industry leaders such as SPD Bank (Shanghai Pudong Development Bank) and Yingke Law Firm, have become early participants by already setting up operations in the center.

Lin-gang also unveiled recently some 13 national service centers and 24 overseas liaison stations to better facilitate companies' attempts to explore overseas markets.

Chen Jinshan, director of the Lingang Special Area Administration, said during the launch ceremony that Chinese companies' overseas forays have grown from initial exploitation to higher-level international mapping at present.

Given Lin-gang's strength in integrated circuits, intelligent vehicles, civil aviation, high-end equipment and digital economy, the local authorities will provide stronger support for companies along the same industrial chain to go overseas together, said Chen.

Therefore, Lin-gang will conduct greater stress tests in cross-border finance, cross-border data and high-capacity shipping so that the comprehensive platform serving companies' foreign outreaches can provide better services concerning laws and regulations, investment, financing and insurance, he added.

Over the past five years, companies registered in Lin-gang have launched 412 foreign direct investment projects, with the total investment value amounting to $6.56 billion.

Zhou Hanmin, head of Shanghai Public Diplomacy Association, said Lin-gang has served as an important strategic fulcrum of China's reform and opening-up. The area plays a pivotal role in helping Chinese companies better tap overseas markets while introducing more multinational companies. Exchanges and cooperation among companies across the globe are crucial to enhance companies' competitiveness, which is conducive to the country's high-quality economic development, he said.