CHINESE battery and auto maker BYD rolled out the welcome mat for billionaire investor and backer Warren Buffett, flying him to its south China base in Shenzhen yesterday for a series of events to showcase its clean car initiatives.

Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has profited handsomely from a 10 percent stake it owns in BYD, which has jumped nearly seven times in value since Buffett purchased it for US$230 million in 2008.

BYD invited Buffett to Shenzhen for a signing ceremony that will see the company build an energystorage power station with China Southern Power Grid, and a celebration to mark the sale of its 1-millionth car.

"This is my first trip to Shenzhen but I promise you it won't be my last," Buffett told the audience at the ceremony.

Buffett praised Shenzhen for taking the lead in using electric vehicles as taxis to help cut pollution. "Each taxi will produce one-tenth pollution of the regular sedan. If we push more public transportation to change to EV, it will greatly help reduce pollution in the city," he said.

BYD shipped its first batch of all-electric cars, E6, earlier this year and all of them were used as taxis in Shenzhen.

Buffett, 80, the world's third-richest man with a fortune estimated by US magazine Forbes at US$47 billion, arrived in Shenzhen on a jet chartered by BYD, according to the China-based Phoenix website.

Buffett called BYD a young and promising company that will play a leading role in the future.

Buffett is scheduled to visit BYD's plants in Shenzhen and the city of Huizhou today, followed by a trip to Beijing where he will co-host a charitybanquet with Microsoft founder Bill Gates to meet about 50 wealthy Chinese to share ideas about philanthropy.

His trip will end with a visit to the central China city of Changsha, where he will visit a BYD electric bus plant.

BYD, whose name stands for Build Your Dreams, has seen its rising star sputter recently, prompting it to cut its annual sales target by 25 percent to 600,000 units this year.

BYD not only pioneered China's electric car industry, but also does research and development on solar energy.

Wang's fortune was believed to surpass US$5.1 billion in 2009.

In August, Wang said the company was on track to launch an electric car in the US market later this year.

Wang has not said if he will participate in Buffett's and Gates' campaign to persuade rich billionaires to give their fortunes to charity upon their deaths, a campaign dubbed "The Giving Pledge."

• welcome [´welkəm] a.受欢迎的；可喜的 (初中英语单词)
• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• series [´siəri:z] n.连续；系列；丛书 (初中英语单词)
• ceremony [´seriməni] n.典礼；礼仪；客气 (初中英语单词)
• energy [´enədʒi] n.活力，精力；能力 (初中英语单词)
• audience [´ɔ:diəns] n.听众；观众；接见 (初中英语单词)
• transportation [,trænspɔ:´teiʃən] n.运输；运送；运费 (初中英语单词)
• promising [´prɔmisiŋ] a.有希望的；有为的 (初中英语单词)
• wealthy [´welθi] a.富有的；丰富的 (初中英语单词)
• annual [´ænjuəl] a.每年的 n.年刊 (初中英语单词)
• research [ri´sə:tʃ] n.&vi.调查；探究；研究 (初中英语单词)
• persuade [pə´sweid] v.(被)说服；使相信 (初中英语单词)
• battery [´bætəri] n.炮兵连；炮台；电池 (高中英语单词)
• storage [´stɔ:ridʒ] n.贮存；存储器 (高中英语单词)
• celebration [,seli´breiʃən] n.庆祝(会)；庆典 (高中英语单词)
• billion [´biljən] num.万亿 (高中英语单词)
• charity [´tʃæriti] n.施舍；慈悲；博爱 (高中英语单词)
• banquet [´bæŋkwit] n.宴会，盛宴 (高中英语单词)
• founder [´faundə] n.奠基者 v.陷落 (高中英语单词)
• surpass [sə´pɑ:s] vt.超过，胜过 (高中英语单词)
• launch [lɔ:ntʃ] vt.发动 n.发射；汽艇 (高中英语单词)
• campaign [kæm´pein] n.战役；行动 vi.从军 (高中英语单词)
• warren [´wɔrən] n.养兔场；大杂院 (英语四级单词)
• participate [pɑ:´tisipeit] v.参与；分享；带有 (英语四级单词)
• investor [in´vestə] n.投资者 (英语六级单词)
• taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
• august [ɔ:´gʌst] a.尊严的；威严的 (英语六级单词)