Chinese maker of electric vehicles BYD Co. Ltd has been awarded a contract to build a 20 km monorail along a viaduct that will carry it above the sea in the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia, Xinhua reports.

The Chinese government-run news agency says the project is the first of its kind to be undertaken by BYD in Latin America.

The report says the monorail, to be called the SkyRail, will connect the state capital, Salvador, to the island of São João.

The SkyRail will be able to carry 150,000 passengers a day.

The monorail will be part of a transport network due to open in 2021.

Salvador, the third-largest city in Brazil, urgently needs public transport adequate for its growing population, and BYD is offering “cutting-edge transport solutions” to the problem, Xinhua quotes BYD senior Vice-president Stella Li as saying.