Tesla, Unicom to build charging stations

China Unicom, a major state-owned telecom company, said on Friday it will partner with U.S. electric carmaker Tesla to build charging stations in 120 cities to expand the service network for electric cars.

Unicom will provide space for the construction and some basic services, while Tesla will be responsible for the charging facilities, according to the plan.

The two companies are aiming to build stations with two or more charging posts in 20 Chinese cities within this year.

Jiang Zhengxin, vice general manager of Unicom, said the cooperation will allow effective use of the infrastructure and human resources at the over 20,000 Unicom outlets across China, which in turn will act as promotion for the company.

The Chinese government has been encouraging consumers to buy electric vehicles as one of the solutions to the country's pollution problems, but the effort has been hindered by lack of charging infrastructure.