Alstom, a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer, inaugurated its new joint venture in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, on Wednesday.

The new company, Hefei Alstom Rail Transport Equipment Co., Ltd. (HATEE), is funded by Shanghai Alstom Transport Electrical Equipment Co., Ltd. (SATEE) and is expected to start trial production of its products in October.

HATEE will establish a base for the design and manufacturing of traction systems and their components, project management, and lifecycle maintenance services. The traction systems will include the newly developed metro traction systems specifically designed for the standardized metro vehicles in the Chinese market.

HATEE is the second joint venture company established by Alstom in Anhui, following CRRC Puzhen Alstom Transportation Systems Co., Ltd. (PATS) located in the city of Wuhu.

Geng Ming, managing director of Alstom China, said that the establishment of the new company is a powerful testimony for the strengthening of the China-France economic and trade cooperation, and also an important strategic initiative for Alstom to deepen its industrial footprint in the country.

HATEE will play an important role in Hefei's rail transit industry chain and support the city's rail transit industry to expand in the domestic market and enter the overseas markets, according to Geng. The traction equipment designed and manufactured by HATEE will not only serve metro and commuter train projects in China but also power Alstom metro vehicles globally.

During the opening ceremony, which was attended by Bertrand Lortholary, French ambassador to China, the company unveiled the traction systems that will be delivered for Hefei's new metro line, Metro Line 8. It will be the first fully automated metro line in Hefei, with a total length of 22.5 km.

Up to now, Alstom has 11 joint ventures and almost 10,000 employees in China. The joint ventures have delivered more than 6,000 railway passenger cars, 1,530 electric locomotives and more than 7,200 metro cars to China's growing rail transit market as well as to overseas markets.