The move followed concern that Imperial's research facilities were aiding China's latest army jets and high performance batteries, The Guardian said.

China has incentivised electric vehicle sales, using lower sales tax for small-engine vehicles and subsidies to spur trade-ins of gasoline vehicles for electric ones.

Greenpeace ranked Toyota last out of the top 10 automakers in sales volume - for the second year running. Zero-emission vehicles made up less than 1% of its sales, report said

Mining giant Anglo-American has unveiled a prototype of what it says is the world’s largest hydrogen-powered mining truck

Nio said it will rev up the construction of battery swapping stations in Europe with a view to expanding car sales in Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark.

The company said it would establish an advanced energy materials research institute and a new energy technology industrialisation research centre in Beijing

The funding was first reported by Maeil, citing the investment banking industry. The newspaper said Carlyle Group and SK On had been negotiating detailed terms

Officials said funding was completed on Wednesday for the second phase of the advanced manufacturing fund, which invests in Chinese innovation sectors

The company's call coincides with the release of a new hybrid model, the Grand Vitara sport utility vehicle, that is intended to compete with Hyundai and Kia

Domestic new energy vehicle companies such as BYD, Li Auto, Xpeng, Evergrande and Nio are expected to gain from the reduction in vehicle loan rates

Analysts said the yen's tumbling value against the dollar caused share price boosts for automakers and microchip producers

Battery makers for electric vehicles are studying ways to create smaller and cheaper batteries to bring down prices, as batteries are currently the most expensive items in EVs.