China’s “One Belt, One Road” policies spurred Lumileds to construct a new LED automotive bulb production line, reported National Business Daily.

Lumileds, the former Philips LED component and automotive lighting business, was acquired by Chinese investment fund Go Scale Capital on March 31, 2015 for US$ 3.3 billion. Philips expects sealing the spin-off deal by 3Q15.

The introduction of Chinese investors has provided huge development opportunities, said Klemens Brunner, General Manager, Automotive Lighting Asia Pacific, Lumileds.

Lumileds new logo. (Lumileds/LEDinside)

China’s “One Belt, One Road” policies have also provided chances for manufacturers to expand in the Asian market.

China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative proposed in late March this year, has expanded the previous initiative’s plan of enhancing policy coordination across Asia, financial integration, trade liberalization and people-to-people connectivity, according to Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

 Lumileds highly values China’s recent “One Belt, One Road” policy, which potentially could expand the automotive export market, said Brunner. At the same time the “One Belt, One Road” policy will make trading with other Asian nations more convenient, so it will be easier for Lumileds to export its products in the region.

“Lumileds has two large automotive lighting factories in China, and is preparing to establish a new LED automotive bulb production line,” said Brunner. “The company’s products manufactured in China are currently exported to Asian countries including Indonesia, India, and Thailand.”

The global LED automotive lighting market value is projected to reach US $2.5 billion by 2018, according to a research analysis. China’s automotive lighting market also has enormous potential. Based on 2013 statistics the country has more than 270 million motor vehicles, with more than 85 million privately owned automobiles. The country’s automotive market growth has continued to spur automotive lighting market demands.

As for Go Scale Capital’s acquisition of Lumileds, Chinese LED industry insider Bob Lee believes it is a rare opportunity for the local industry. The deal is expected to accelerate the internationalization of China’s LED industry, while improving the country's LED technology and manufacturing capacity, said Lee.

(Editorial Note: Changes were made to the article to clarify the LED bulb mentioned in the article was referring to bulbs for automotive lighting as of April 30, 2015.)