(Yicai Global) March 8 -- New energy vehicle giant Tesla is expected to further widen its charging network in China after reaching the milestone of 6,000 charging piles in the country in less than a decade.

The US firm's mainland coverage is predicted to be enlarged because the company started producing the related equipment, mostly the extremely fast V3 charging piles, in Shanghai last month, China News Agency reported.

So far the California-headquartered NEV maker has over 6,000 Superchargers across China while the number of stations is almost 1,500 and more than half of those are run by Tesla. Last month, the firm added almost 220 charging piles in 21 cities, including Shenzhen and Beijing. Tesla entered China in late 2013.

The company's Shanghai plant can churn out 10,000 Superchargers each year. Before localized production, the products were imported from the US.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi