CHANGCHUN, Oct. 29 (Xinhua) -- FAW-Volkswagen Automobile Co., Ltd., a passenger car joint venture between China FAW Group Co., Ltd. and Volkswagen AG, has started construction on a new technology development center.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the project, with an investment of nearly 1 billion yuan (142 million U.S. dollars), was held Monday in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province and home to FAW-Volkswagen headquarters.

Liu Yigong, board member and president of FAW-Volkswagen, said the center, another major project after its car testing field in Changchun, will provide significant support for the company's full value chain localization strategy.

Upon completion, the project will promote the upgrading of the automobile industry in Changchun and even the whole northeastern old industrial base with its advanced technical specifications and testing conditions, said Liu.

The center, designed to have a floor area of 69,900 square meters, will help boost the carmaker's research and development capability in safety, performance and durability tests, intelligent lighting development, drive system development verification, and ergonomics research.

It will also help upgrade and improve the testing equipment for new energy vehicles and boost the company's R&D and testing capability of new energy vehicles.

FAW-Volkswagen, established in 1991, now runs five production bases across the country. In 2018, its vehicle deliveries rose 2.6 percent year on year to exceed 2.05 million units.