Tesla Pays $140m for Lease on First Non-US Factory in Shanghai

特斯拉将在上海建设工厂

Tesla, the US electric car company, has paid Rmb973m ($140m) to lease an 860,000 square metre plot of land near Shanghai’s port for its first major vehicle factory outside the US, as it tries to expand sales in the world’s largest automotive market.

美国电动汽车公司特斯拉斥资9.73亿元人民币（合1.4亿美元），在上海港口附近租用一块86万平方米的土地，作为其在美国之外的第一家大型汽车厂的厂址。该公司正努力扩大在中国这个全球最大汽车市场的销量。

Tesla said the factory would begin production in 2021 with initial capacity of about 250,000 vehicles a year. The cost of the lease was disclosed on a Shanghai government website. Such leases usually last 50 years.

特斯拉表示，该厂将于2021年投产，最初年产能约为25万辆。上海市一个政府网站公布了这项租赁的费用。这种租赁通常的租期为50年。

Tesla’s sales in China have been affected by rising trade frictions between Beijing and Washington. The company said this month it was operating at a 55 to 60 per cent cost disadvantage compared to Chinese producers due to tariffs and shipping costs.

特斯拉在中国的销量受到了中美贸易摩擦不断升级的影响。该公司本月表示，由于关税和运输成本，其运营成本与中国生产商相比有55%至60%的劣势。

Funding for the Shanghai plant will mostly come from Chinese banks and Tesla’s own investment “will not start in any significant way until 2019”, company founder Elon Musk said in an August conference call with investors.

该公司创始人埃隆·马斯克在8月份与投资者举行的电话会议上表示，上海工厂的资金将主要来自中资银行，而特斯拉“在2019年之前不会投入大量自有资金”。

Beijing said in April it would abolish rules requiring foreign companies to set up 50-50 joint ventures with a Chinese partner for the electric car sector by the end of the year, though the restriction will still apply to other kinds of vehicles until 2022.

中国政府今年4月表示，将于今年底前为电动汽车取消外国公司与中国合作伙伴建立合资企业时50:50的股比限制。不过，对于其他类型的汽车，这项限制在2022年前仍将适用。

Tesla has said it would have complete ownership of the Shanghai plant.

特斯拉表示，它将拥有上海工厂的全部所有权。

The factory will be based in the Lingang area of Shanghai, whose name means “near the port”, due to its proximity to the city’s shipping hub, and is already home to the production facilities of international automotive brands including MG Rover.

工厂将设在上海临港地区，该地区的名称即为“毗邻港口”之意，因为其靠近上海市的航运枢纽，且已是MG罗孚等国际汽车品牌的生产基地。

Mr Musk has said the Shanghai factory will eventually have a production capacity of 500,000 vehicles a year. The factory would also make the vehicles’ battery packs.

马斯克曾表示，特斯拉上海工厂最终将拥有年产50万辆汽车的产能。该工厂还将生产汽车的电池组。

But the lossmaking group’s production levels in the US are still only half what Mr Musk originally promised to reach by the end of 2018, although it finally hit its weekly production goal at the end of June and has since been able to achieve a quarterly target.

但这家亏损的汽车集团在美国的产量水平仍仅为马斯克最初承诺将于2018年底达到的生产水平的一半，虽然该集团最终在6月底实现了每周生产目标，并自那以后达到了季度生产目标。

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