The new energy vehicle subsidiary of Chinese real estate conglomerate China Evergrande Group and a unit of Tencent have agreed to form a joint venture to develop smart vehicle operating system using proprietary intellectual property, in the latest cross-industry pairing between a carmaker and a tech giant to co-develop intelligent car technologies.

China Evergrande New Energy Vehicle Group will own 60% of the joint venture while Tencent’s unit Beijing Tinnove Technology will own the remainder, according to an exchange filing issued on Monday.

“Both parties are expected to give a full play of their respective capabilities in new energy vehicle research and development, manufacturing, artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computation, commuting and other fields, together aiming to create a world-leading smart vehicle ecosystem,” China Evergrande NEV said in the filing, without giving further details.

The tie-up could produce a win-win result for the two sides as China Evergrande NEV needs smart vehicle technologies to make its cars more competitive while Tencent seeks opportunities to monetize its technologies of artificial intelligence and cloud computing, which are key for autonomous vehicles.

Monday’s filing was not viewed as a massive surprise for market watchers as Tencent has already been one of China Evergrande NEV’s financial backers. In September 2020, the automaker brought a group of big-name investors including Tencent, Sequoia Capital and Didi Chuxin on board through a share sale which raised HK$4 billion ($516 million). Tencent has also provided financial support to several self-driving vehicle startups like Momenta.

Apart from China Evergrande NEV, which is a new entrant in the industry but with an ambition to be a premier maker of green cars within three to five years toppling Tesla, Tencent in January this year signed a deal with Geely, under which the two parties will work on smart car cockpits characterized by more mobile and mobility services applications and explore testing of autonomous driving systems.

Contact reporter Ding Yi (yiding@caixin.com)

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