Shanghai, February 8, 2017 (AP) - Recently, Maxwell Technology of the United States and CRRC (601766) Qingdao Sifang Vehicle Research Institute Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Qingdao Sifang") reached a major agreement: the two sides will deepen cooperation and promote the localized manufacturing of supercapacitor modules to meet the demand of China's new energy bus market. According to the terms of the agreement, the localized production of Maxwell supercapacitor modules will be launched in China in the second half of 2017, during the peak purchasing season of the Chinese new energy (600617) bus market. Bus module manufacturing will expand Maxwell's strategic cooperation with Qingdao Sifang and help Maxwell more effectively expand its business in the constantly developing Chinese new energy bus market.

To ensure the comprehensive localization of Maxwell products and meet the recent requirements of the Chinese government, Maxwell has provided Qingdao Sifang with module design authorization for the Chinese bus market, allowing Qingdao Sifang to use Maxwell's 2.7V and 3V supercapacitor units in localized production lines to manufacture modules. In addition, Maxwell will continue to utilize the long-term professional technology of the Chinese bus market to jointly design the next generation supercapacitor products with Qingdao Sifang, striving to be put into mass production in a few years. Qingdao Sifang Chairman Liu Baoming pointed out: With the continuous growth of China's new energy transportation market, manufacturers and sellers of key technologies must invest in developing appropriate solutions to improve energy efficiency, protect the environment, and lay the foundation for the future of the industry. We are pleased to further strengthen our cooperation with Maxwell Technology, a leading enterprise in the global supercapacitor market, to achieve the localization of Maxwell products and contribute to the development of China's new energy bus market

Dr. Franz Fink, President and CEO of Maxwell Technologies, stated: Since Maxwell and Qingdao Sifang started working together, we have attached great importance to environmental protection, actively developed forward-looking technology, and improved user efficiency. Localized cooperation in supercapacitor production can significantly expand our coverage of the Chinese bus market, while allowing more users to benefit from next-generation energy storage solutions. Next, Maxwell and Qingdao Sifang sales teams will collaborate to provide the best service experience for new and old customers At the same time, our product development team will continue to develop the next generation of fully optimized solutions for the market