Matthias Zentgraf, CATL's regional president for Europe, told a business conference in Berlin that its battery cell factory in Erfurt would start production in 2021 and that the company would create 600 new jobs at the site.

CATL, the world's largest maker of battery cells for electric vehicles, said in July it would build its first European production site in Erfurt and the plant would supply carmaker BMW with lithium-ion batteries.

(Reporting by Michael Nienaber, editing by Riham Alkousaa)