Tesla Secures $1.29 Billion Loan From Chinese Banks for Shanghai Factory

Tesla entered into agreements with lenders in China for a secured term loan facility of up to CNY 9 billion ($1.29 billion), according to a regulatory filing on Thursday. The electric car maker said it has also signed agreements for an unsecured revolving loan facility of up to CNY 2.25 billion, adding that both the loans will be used for its Shanghai car plant. China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China are the lenders, according to the filing.

Besides construction and production at the Shanghai factory, the loan may also be used to repay the CNY 3.5 billion debt due to be repaid on March 4 next year.

The factory, which is Tesla's first car manufacturing site outside the United States, is the centrepiece of its ambitions to boost sales in the world's biggest auto market and avoid higher import tariffs imposed on US-made cars.

Reuters reported earlier this week that Tesla and a group of China banks had agreed to a new CNY 10 billion, five-year loan facility for the automaker's Shanghai car plant, citing sources familiar with the matter.

© Thomson Reuters 2019