China-based electric maker BYD, has opened an EV plant in Thailand on Thursday, its first factory in Southeast Asia, Reuters reported.

“Thailand has a clear EV vision and is entering a new era of auto manufacturing,” BYD CEO and President Wang Chuanfu said at the opening ceremony. “We will bring technology from China to Thailand.”

The BYD plant is part of a wave of investment worth more than $1.44 billion from Chinese EV makers who are setting up factories in Thailand, helped by government subsidies and tax incentives, according to the report.

Thailand is a regional auto assembly and export hub, and has long been dominated by Japanese car makers such as Toyota Motor, Honda Motor Co, and Isuzu Motors.

By 2030, the country aims to convert 30 percent of its annual production of 2.5 million vehicles into EVs, according to a government plan.

“BYD is using Thailand as a production hub for export to ASEAN and many other countries,” said Narit Therdsteerasukdi, secretary-general of Thailand’s Board of Investment.

As part of its expansion outside China, BYD is building its first European production base in Hungary.

In May, it was reported that BYD plans to build an automotive assembly plant in Indonesia’s West Java, with groundbreaking scheduled for July, China’s news agency Xinhua reported.

BYD said then the automotive assembly plant will be built on around 100 hectares of land in the Subang Smartpolitan Industrial Area in West Java province. The groundbreaking will reportedly take place in July and it is expected to start operation in 2026.

BYD has officially introduced its electric cars — BYD Seal, BYD Atto 3, and BYD Dolphin — to the Indonesian market in January this year. The EV maker has already selling cars in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand.

BYD is one of the most aggressive Chinese EV brands to expand its businesses across Southeast Asia. The automaker’s assertive expansion into Southeast Asia also coincides with a broader trend of escalating competition and dwindling profits for automakers in China. Besides automakers, Chinese tech giants such as Huawei and Xiaomi have also introduced EV models.

Besides Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia governments also actively promotes EV adoption, seeking foreign investment to develop the EV sector. Competition has also heated up these countries have aspired to become the main player or a hub in the global production and supply chain of EVs.

China’s BYD to build EV plant in Indonesia, groundbreaking expected in July – report