Tesla has announced a partnership with China Unicom, China’s second-largest wireless carrier, to build public charging stations across the country.

The two companies will install charging posts at 400 Unicom stores in 120 cities, with Tesla supplying equipment and Unicom providing the land, said Tesla spokeswoman Peggy Yang. Tesla will also deploy Superchargers in 20 Chinese cities. Charging will be free for Tesla owners.

“The deal represents our biggest investment so far in charging facilities in China,” Yang told Reuters.

“We have been working with China Unicom already – China Unicom is our in-car 3G connectivity service provider,” said Tesla spokeswoman Lis Jarvis-Shean.

Costs were not disclosed, but Elon Musk has said that he expects to invest hundreds of millions of dollars building charging stations in China. Tesla already has more than 200 charging stations and 13 Superchargers in China, the world’s largest auto market, with more than a quarter of global sales.

Tesla has also struck deals with Chinese property developers including Soho China and China Yintai Holdings to install chargers are their properties.

The stock market cheered – TSLA shares reached a new high, closing at $269.70 on Friday.

Source: Reuters, Bloomberg, San Jose Mercury News
Image: Joseph Thornton/Flickr