The opening ceremony of the Jiading Hydrogen Port is held in Shanghai's Jiading district on June 10. [Photo/jiading.gov.cn]

The opening ceremony of the Jiading Hydrogen Port was held in Shanghai's Jiading district on June 10. The port looks to nurture an industry cluster of hydrogen energy and fuel cell vehicles.

According to the plan released at the opening, Jiading will fully support the breakthrough in research and development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicle technology and its application and industrialization.

Lu Fangzhou, director of Jiading district, said that hydrogen fuel cell technology is supposed to become the key for Jiading to develop into a world center for the auto industry. The district will increase policy support to promote the development of hydrogen fuel cell technology and improve competitiveness for the nation's auto industry.

A number of projects are signed to support the development of fuel cell vehicle industry chain in Jiading during the ceremony. [Photo/jiading.gov.cn]

"The hydrogen and fuel cell automotive industry is Shanghai's future-oriented strategic industry", said Wu Jincheng, head of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology.

"Jiading has been developing the auto industry for years and is known as Shanghai's auto industry center. It is expected to take the lead in establishing a complete hydrogen energy and fuel cell vehicle industrial chain in Shanghai."

In recent years, Jiading has been taking steps to develop the hydrogen energy and fuel cell vehicle industry. SAIC has invested over 1 billion yuan ($144.5 million) in the development of fuel cell stacks and systems, electronic control, and vehicle integration. It has completed development of three fuel cell vehicles for the 200-type fuel cell system, leading the construction of China's fuel cell vehicle industry chain.