On the last day of his trade mission to China Tuesday, Gov. Jerry Brown highlighted the upcoming opening of a Lancaster plant for electric car and bus manufacturer BYD, the first Chinese-owned vehicle plant on American soil. BYD Motors Inc., BYD’s Los Angeles-based U.S. unit, plans to target the U.S. transit market, starting with a $14 million contact it landed last month to provide 10 electric buses to Long Beach Transit. The Los Angeles Business Journal last week reported that the company had acquired two Lancaster buildings for the facility, one for assembling buses and another for making batteries. Opening ceremonies at the plant are set for May 1. Brown was visiting BYD Co. Ltd.’s headquarters Shenzhen, one of China’s top high tech and manufacturing hubs. “We want to cooperate closely with you,” said Brown in a meeting with local officials. “We want to trade more, we want to sell more, we want to buy more and we want more of our people to come to Shenzhen and we want more of your people to come to California.”
