Weichai Power announced that it has reached a joint venture agreement with Westport Innovations Inc, a global leader in alternative fuel, low-emissions transportation technologies, and Hong Kong Peterson (CNG) Equipment Limited. The new entity, Weichai Westport Inc. (WWI), will research, develop, design, manufacture, market, distribute and sell advanced, alternative fuel engines (and relevant parts and kits) for use in automobiles, heavy duty trucks, power generation and shipping applications.

The rapid growth in China for energy, especially in the transport sector, is creating a strong demand for newer, cleaner fuels in China such as natural gas. China has a growing reserve of natural gas and is in various stages of reviewing and approving a number of new LNG import terminals to be constructed along its eastern shore. Transitioning natural gas from power generation to transportation frees up increasingly expensive oil based fuels for other applications and provides an economic advantage to the vehicle owner where natural gas is less expensive than diesel on a per unit of energy basis. According to The National Clean Vehicle Productivity Promotion in China, there are over 185,000 Natural Gas Vehicles (NGV) in China and the fueling infrastructure required to fuel these vehicles is growing quickly.