BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese electric vehicle battery giant CATL said on Wednesday that it will partner with state-owned oil giant Sinopec (OTC: SHIIY ) to build 10,000 battery swap stations.

As part of a strategic deal signed in Beijing, the two companies will build at least 500 battery swap stations this year, according to a company statement, which did not give a timeline to set up these stations.

The partnership will be based on CATL’s "choco-swap" battery swapping and Qiji chassis battery-swapping solution to "break through the driving range bottlenecks of passenger vehicles and heavy-duty trucks," per the statement.