(Yicai Global) Sept. 17 -- The first China-made new energy vehicle to be sold in the European Union may come from Aiways, a less than three-year-old Tencent-backed startup.

TUV Rheinland gave the Aiways U5 sport-utility vehicle the European Framework Directive for Whole Vehicle Type Approval, the German product testing provider said in a statement today. 

Chief Executive Gu Feng, a former chief financial officer from SAIC Motors, co-founded Aiways in February 2017. The Shanghai-headquartered firm has raised CNY5.2 billion (USD733.6 million) in four rounds of financing, according to Crunchbase. 

"The vehicle will be on sale in Europe from next year," said Aiways President Samuel Fu. Two U5s had driven more than 15,000 kilometers from China's Xi'an via Russia, Scandinavia, and France to Germany for a presentation in Frankfurt.

Editor: Emmi Laine