Canadian global automotive supplier Magna International on Monday signed an agreement with Beijing Automotive Group Co., Ltd. (BAIC Group), China's largest new energy vehicle (NEV) maker, to set up two joint ventures to engineer and build NEVs in China, the world's largest NEV market.

According to the agreement, the new joint ventures are expected to take over an existing BAIC manufacturing plant in Zhenjiang, east China's Jiangsu Province. The vehicles are expected to roll off the assembly line in 2020, with an annual capacity of 180,000 vehicles.

"These joint venture operations mark an historic milestone for Magna. For the first time we will be providing our customers with cars engineered and built outside our complete vehicle manufacturing facility in Austria," said Don Walker, CEO of Magna.

Xu Heyi, chairman of BAIC Group, said the establishment of the joint ventures will benefit both Magna and BAIC and further strengthen their business growth in China. "Together we will be devoted to the research and development of new-generation NEVs and bringing the innovation and manufacturing of NEV industry to a new level."

Magna is one of the world's largest automotive suppliers, having 340 manufacturing operations and 93 product development, engineering and sales centers in 28 countries and regions.

China has been promoting the development of NEVs in recent years to help cut pollution. The number of NEVs in the country is predicted to reach 5 million by 2020, according to Xu Yanhua, deputy secretary-general of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.