CATL Still Wants Spain to Allow 2,000 Chinese Workers For Battery Plant
- Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. is in talks with Spain’s government over a plan to have Chinese engineers, technicians and managers work on a manufacturing plant in Zaragoza.
- The joint venture with Stellantis NV is scheduled to start production by the end of 2026, with CATL needing experienced technicians to build and fine-tune the production lines.
- CATL will train local workers so they can gradually take over the operation, with the company also planning to add local sources of materials, including from recycling, in response to EU battery content laws.
Battery giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. remains in talks with Spain’s government over a plan to have 2,000 Chinese engineers, technicians and managers work on establishing a €4.1 billion ($4.8 billion) manufacturing plant in Zaragoza, according to a company executive.
The joint venture between the Chinese company and European automaker Stellantis NV is scheduled to start production by the end of 2026, though progress has been slow in efforts to persuade the Spanish public and authorities to accept the employment plan, said CATL Vice President Meng Xiangfeng.
“It’s not that we’re unwilling to hire local workers — it’s that we need experienced technicians to build and fine-tune the production lines and get the equipment up and running,” Meng said in an interview at the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil. “During this process, we will train local workers so they can gradually take over the operation.”
CATL, the world’s largest lithium-ion battery producer, is at the forefront of a multi-billion dollar wave of overseas manufacturing expansion by China’s clean technology firms, with a facility in Germany in operation and other sites planned in locations including Hungary and Indonesia.
A large number of skilled Chinese technicians — which would be drawn both from CATL and also from Chinese companies in its supply chain — are essential to provide on-site services and support to bring production lines into operation, and it can take time to employ local workers, Meng said in the Thursday interview.
He said,
The German plant went through a similar process, and the Hungarian project is now undergoing the same,
Spain’s energy ministry did not respond to a request for comment sent outside of usual working hours.
The use of Chinese workers in clean technology manufacturing sites overseas has already stirred tensions in some communities over the availability of jobs for local people, and prompted protests in sites like Michigan and Ohio.
European Union officials have also considered plans to force Chinese firms to hand over technology to local companies if they wish to set up operations on the continent, people familiar with the proposals said last month.
China’s Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment Li Gao and other officials have publicly expressed concerns over any measures or policies that could impede the flow of Chinese exports of green technologies.
Batteries produced by CATL currently power about 22 million electric vehicles globally and the company is continuing to look for additional destinations for manufacturing sites overseas, Meng said in the interview.
CATL is also responding to battery content laws due to be introduced in the EU from 2030, and will seek to add local sources of materials, including from recycling, he said.
The venture between Stellantis and CATL in Zaragoza will produce lithium-iron phosphate, or LFP, batteries — a cheaper alternative to nickel-based chemistries and which can help lower prices of electric vehicles. Demand for LFP products is continuing to grow both in China and overseas, according to Meng.
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CATL Still Wants Spain to Allow 2,000 Chinese Workers For Battery Plant, source
