(Yicai) Oct. 31 -- Shares in Veichi Electric jumped after the Chinese maker of automation control products advanced its plans to expand into robot manufacturing.

Veichi [SHA: 688698] closed up 6.03 percent at CNY33.93 (USD4.76) in Shanghai after surging as much as 7.2 percent earlier today.

The producer of electric drives is set to sign a deal with the local government of Jiangxi province's Jiujiang soon to build a new research and development base in the eastern city to develop artificial intelligence technologies and make smart robots, the Suzhou-headquartered company announced yesterday. 

The local government will provide Veichi with land for the project, and the company aims to begin construction within three months after securing land-use rights. The first products are expected to be ready 18 months later, although Veichi has not disclosed the investment scale, product specifics, or production capacity.

Frequency converters and servo control systems, Veichi’s main product lines, accounted for 95 percent of its CNY1.2 billion (USD168.5 million) in annual revenue last year, according to its latest annual report. With a competitive edge in servo systems, the company is expanding into various types of robots, including humanoid models, it said in the same report.

Veichi also reported its third-quarter results yesterday, showing a net profit of CNY76 million (USD10.7 million) for the three months ended Sept. 30, up 52 percent year-on-year. Revenue climbed 20 percent to CNY386 million (USD54.2 million), driven by higher product sales and improved operational efficiency.

Editor: Emmi Laine