(Yicai Global) Feb. 3 -- Shares of China's Contemporary Amperex Technology surged after the world's biggest new energy vehicle battery maker said it will invest CNY29 billion (USD4.5 billion) to expand its production, another big investment in less than two months.

CATL's stock price [SHE:300750] rose as much as 5.3 percent to CNY387.56 (USD60) this morning. The stock price has almost tripled over the past 12 months.

The NEV battery manufacturer will pour the money into three projects, the Ningde-based firm said in a statement yesterday.

First, CNY12 billion will fund a battery plant in Zhaoqing, southern Guangdong province. A similar sum will be spent on the fifth and sixth phases of a factory in Yibin, Sichuan province. Moreover, CNY5 billion (USD774.1 million) will go toward expanding output in CATL's home town.

Last December, CATL revealed a CNY39 billion investment plan, targeting lithium-ion battery production in Ningde, Jiangsu's Liyang, and Yibin. That means that the company has earmarked CNY68 billion for output increases in less than two months.

The global installed battery capacity grew by 17 percent to 137 gigawatt-hours last year despite the Covid-19 pandemic, according to data from South Korea's SNE Research. CATL’s installed capacity was 34 GWh, ranking first for a fourth straight year. South Korea’s LG Chem was second with its 31 GWh.

In the next five years, the lithium battery industry will reach a scale of 1,000 GWh with high efficiency and high-quality delivery, CATL Chairman Zeng Yuqun said at a forum held in Beijing on Jan. 16.

By now, CATL has five plants, located in northwestern Qinghai, eastern Jiangsu, southwestern Sichuan, and southeastern Fujian provinces, as well as in central Germany's Erfurt.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi