XINING, June 27 (Xinhua) -- China's leading new energy vehicle (NEV) maker BYD started production at its new battery plant in the northwestern province of Qinghai on Wednesday.

The plant, located in the provincial capital Xining, currently has an annual production capacity of 10 GWh of lithium batteries. With seven production lines in total, it is designed to have an annual production capacity of 24 GWh of lithium batteries by 2019.

BYD chairman Wang Chuanfu said that the plant features highly advanced production technology and it will help ease the worldwide shortage of high-end battery production capacity.

Batteries are the core part of NEVs. Industrial statistics show that the global demand for new energy batteries will exceed 1,500 GWh in 2030.

BYD expects to have a total annual production capacity of 60 GWh in 2020.

With rich lithium resources, Qinghai has built a complete NEV industrial chain from lithium resource mining to lithium battery and NEV production.