The municipal government of Dalian, China has signed a cooperative agreement with BYD for the purchase of 600 BYD electric buses in 2014 and another 600 in 2015, totaling 1,200 units.

BYD is opening a new electric bus manufacturing facility in the Dalian Huayuankou Economic Zone to service the growing needs of northern China.

The agreement also mentions a conversion initiative of more than 50% of new purchased taxis in Dalian to new energy vehicles in support of the “new energy vehicles promotion and local environment improvement” initiative.

BYD electric fleets have logged more than 175 million km (109 million miles) in revenue service).

The company recently inked a similar purchase agreement with Nanjing, for 600 electric buses and 400 electric taxis.