By LIU Jiaxin
Chinese EV maker Human Horizons has signed an agreement worth 21 billion Saudi Riyal (US$5.6 billion, 40 billion yuan) with the Ministry of Investment of Saudi Arabia (MISA) to establish a company to develop, manufacture and sell cars.
Saudi Arabia and China signed investment agreements totaling over US$10 billion on Sunday, covering technology, renewable energy and healthcare, among others. The deal between Human Horizons and MISA accounted for more than half of the total investment.
Human Horizons was founded in 2017. The company has two models on sale, HiPhi X and HiPhi Z, priced from 570,000 yuan. Human Horizons has sold less than 9,000 cars in the past two years.
The new HuPhi Y was unveiled at Shanghai Auto in April. Priced at 369,000 yuan, deliveries begin in July.
The main objective of Saudi Arabia's move is to promote its domestic EV as part of investments in non-oil industries to reduce its exposure to oil prices. The electric vehicle industry is an important part of this strategy.
In 2018, the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia invested US$1 billion in Lucid Motors, a company based in the United States. In February 2022, Lucid announced plans to build an assembly plant in King Abdullah Economic City.
Last year, Saudi company Sumou Holding announced that it was working with Chinese EV startup Enovate on a factory in Saudi Arabia.
