NEW YORK April 5 2...

NEW YORK April 5 2019 Xinhua File photo taken on April 30 2010 shows Chinese automaker BYD Chairman Wang Chuanfu L front and then California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger R front during a press conference at Los Angeles City Hall to announce that BYD will locate its North American headquarters in Los Angeles the United States. China's leading electric vehicle maker BYD held a ceremony on April 3 to celebrate its 300th bus at its Lancaster manufacturing plant in the U.S. state of California marking a milestone for production. The 300th bus a 35 foot BYD K9S model transit bus is one of three built for the Capital Area Transit System of Baton Rouge capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana the company said in a release. BYD opened its North American headquarters in Los Angeles in October 2011. Since delivery of its first U.S. battery electric bus in 2014 BYD has provided buses for customers in more than 13 U.S. states and four Canadian provinces. When BYD opened its Lancaster manufauring plant in 2013 it had a handful of employees working on 10 buses in a 106 000 square foot 9848 square meter building. In just six years BYD has grown to become the largest battery electric bus manufacturer in North America with more than 750 employees helping the local community to decrease its unemployment rate from 24 in 2014 to 4 this year. From one bus model under production in 2013 BYD's product line has expanded to include 12 models the most of any e bus manufacturer in the market according to the company. Xinhua Ringo H.W. Chiu IANS