Métrica Soluções, a Chinese-owned maker of electricity and water meters, has opened its factory in the Luanda-Bengo Special Economic Zone, on the outskirts of the Angolan capital, the Angola Chinese News website reports.

The website says the owner, Jiangsu Sunshine Group Co. Ltd, expects the factory in Viana municipality to make 400,000 digital meters a year, and to export some to other African countries.

The report quotes Angolan Minister of Energy and Water João Baptista Borges as saying Métrica Soluções is working with the Luandan water supplier, EPAL, and with the national electricity distributor, ENDE, on getting the best out of its meters and arrangements for maintaining them.

The factory opened last Friday, and will create 800 jobs for Angolans when it begins turning out meters, the Angola Chinese News website says.

In a separate report, the Angolan state-run news agency, Angop, says Jiangsu Sunshine Group has invested US$ 17.5 million in the factory, which occupies a site of about 4,000 square metres.