China's battery and electric car manufacturer BYD Co. announced its plan yesterday to build China's largest vehicle-testing center with investment of 1.5 billion yuan ($219.7 million), China Daily reported. This move is aimed to lift its vehicle quality and R&D capability.

The auto-testing center, located in Shaoguan city, Guangdong province, will also include an auto-parts production base. The project is scheduled to start operation by 2012. With this testing center, the largest in China, BYD expects to become a global leader in auto R&D capability and vehicle quality control.

The automaker currently has a nationwide quality control and R&D system, including vehicle inspection lines, at its manufacturing bases in Xi'an and Shenzhen; a vehicle crash testing lab in Shanghai and an R&D center at its headquarters in Shenzhen, said China Daily.

In late September, BYD launched a high-speed curved cycling track in Shenzhen, the fifth proving ground of its kind in China, making it the first Chinese automaker to have its own circuit.

BYD, backed by investment guru Warren Buffet, dreams of becoming China's No. 1 automaker in about five years and the world's leading carmaker by 2025. It plans to get there by selling as many as 9 million hybrid or plug-in cars a year by 2025.