Attracted by robust sales of electric vehicles, a major Chinese appliance manufacturer plans to build EVs.

 

Gree Electric Appliances Inc. says it will acquire Yinlong New Energy Co., a small domestic electric bus manufacturer.

 

Gree Chairman Dong Mingzhu announced the deal at the company's shareholder meeting last week, according to Yinlong's website.

 

Gree, based in the south China city of Zhuhai, produces air conditioners. Last year, the company reported a profit of 12.5 billion yuan ($1.9 billion) on revenue of 97.7 billion yuan, according to its disclosure to the Shenzhen stock exchange, where it is listed.

 

Yinlong, also based in Zhuhai, manufactured lithium ion batteries before it began producing electric buses in 2010. As of January, the company said it has sold a total of 3,189 electric buses.

 

Lured by China's generous subsidies, numerous nonautomotive companies -- ranging from railway equipment makers to Internet companies -- have launched production of EVs.

 

In the first four months of 2016, sales of EVs and plug-in hybrids in China jumped 131 percent year on year to 90,529 vehicles.

 

That figure includes 66,444 EVs and 24,085 plug-in hybrids, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.