On August 2, PICC Real Estate Investment Holding (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (PICC Real Estate), a subsidiary of PICC Investment Holding Co., Ltd. (a wholly-owned subsidiary of PICC Group) signed a strategic cooperation agreement with NaaS (NASDAQ: NAAS). The two parties will give full play to their respective advantages in asset operation management and EV charging services, and engage in cooperation around the integration of charging infrastructure investment, construction and operation, joint station building, online interconnection, and comprehensive insurance, to jointly build a high-quality EV charging service system and innovate EV charging service models.
Principal-in-Charge Mao Jiwen, and Vice President Qin Lin at PICC Investment Holding; as well as Principal-in-Charge Wang Haipeng, and Deputy General Manager Song Yongfei at PICC Real Estate. Founder and CEO of NewLink, and Chairman of NaaS Dai Zhen, Wang Founder and CEO of NaaS Yang, and Vice President of NaaS Liang Xing, attended the signing ceremony.
Representatives of NaaS and PICC Investment Holding Real Estate Investment signing the strategic agreement
In terms of integration of charging infrastructure investment, construction and operation, PICC Investment Holding Real Estate Investment (Beijing) Co., Ltd. will take advantage of its own market resources in real estate investment, construction, operation and service, and NaaS’ capacity and experience in new energy charging service, to jointly invest, build and run EV infrastructure and charging service network. Furthermore, it plans to progressively set in place the multi-format flagship station integrating PV power, storage and charging and automotive aftermarket service, recreation & entertainment, thus delivering convenient and reliable charging service to customers.
As the exclusive PICC partner, PICC Investment Holding Real Estate Investment (Beijing) Co., Ltd., at the helm of all PICC resources and requirements, will tailor station building and membership among other products jointly with NaaS, in a bid to meet users’ needs for charging service, battery management, risk warning, etc., with EV derivatives, services and products alike. In collaboration with its strategic partner Kuaidian, NaaS will engage in online interconnection with PICC Investment Holding Real Estate Investment (Beijing) Co., Ltd. With benefits perked up and range of uses broadened, users will have better experience.
With regard to comprehensive insurance, the parties will tap into EV charging insurance market and probe into EV charging-related simple insurance, with greater depth of commercial insurance coverage.
Mao Jiwen, Principal-in-Charge of PICC Investment Holding Company Ltd. was sanguine about prospects for cooperation of PICC Holdings and NaaS, leaders in their own industries, in EV charging. Through cooperation with NaaS, PICC Investment Holding will delve into business pathways in EV charging service and hasten the prevalence of EVs.
Wang Yang, Founder and CEO of NaaS, concurred in the view of the bilateral cooperation. By establishing a new cooperative development platform together, NaaS and PICC Investment Holding with savvy in asset operation and management will step up collaboration in cross-industry cooperation and service model innovation. With higher capabilities of charging station building, operation and service and more breakthroughs in EV service, various service needs of users will be better gratified.
According to the data of China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), from January to June in 2023, the cumulative sales of EVs reached 3.747 million units, with year-on-year growth of 44.1% and accessibility of 28.3%. According to data released by China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance (EVCIPA), as of June 2023, the cumulative number of charging infrastructure in China was 6.652 million units, an increase of 69.8% year-on-year. The Measures on Promoting Automotive Consumption jointly issued by thirteen ministries and commissions, including the National Development and Reform Commission, etc. also floated ideas of putting into practice a high-quality charging infrastructure system and giving support to insurers in development of EV charger insurance and other inventive products. A whole package of policies unveiled will provide strong support to further optimization and innovation in EV charging and incidental service models.
Till the end of 2022, PICC racked up RMB 1.51 trillion in assets and ranked among World Fortune 500 for 13 consecutive years. With RMB 27 billion real estate projects in investment and construction, PICC Investment Holding has an affiliate--PICC Investment Holding Real Estate Investment (Beijing) Co., Ltd., a platform dedicated to real estate investment and operation. Its scope of business covers real estate investment, construction, operation and services. Built on market-oriented institution, it employs advanced management knowhow and refines investment management, with a view to becoming an industry-leading real estate investment and operation platform.
NaaS is China's first public EV charging stock, and also the provider of one-stop solutions in charging service, covering charging station siting consulting, software/hardware procurement, EPC, O&M, energy storage, PV, virtual power plant and autonomous charging robot. As of March 31, 2023, NaaS' charging service network had covered 55,000 charging stations and 575,000 chargers. NaaS’s charging volume in the first quarter was 1.023 billion kWh, representing 21% of the public charging volume in China. Third-party charging service provider - Fleetin is a strategic partner of NaaS. Using the only one app, users can have access to TELD and StarCharge among other major charging operators in China. Using “one-click pile search”, “one-click charging” and other features, users are entitled to easy and efficient charging service.
