Great Wall said in a statement that it would develop autonomous driving, smart car cockpit with Horizon Robotics, which recently raised over $550 million from investors including CATL.

Baoding-based Great Wall, which works with Qualcomm on autonomous driving vehicle chips, declined to disclose investment amount.

Chip supply shortage paused auto production globally. Automakers from General Motors to Stellantis and Honda Motor are shutting assembly lines due to the shortages, which in some cases have been exacerbated by the former U.S. administration's sanctions against Chinese chip factories. Some firms have also furloughed staff.

Asian chipmakers are rushing to expand their production capacity to meet a global shortage, but the firms warn that the supply gap may take many months to plug as they struggle to keep up with strong demand.

(Reporting by Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)