NIO has received approval to begin manufacturing at its own electric vehicle assembly plant in the eastern Chinese city of Hefei, a signal that the company is on track to end the contract it has had with carmaker JAC Motors since its inception. NIO Technology (Anhui) Co., Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary that operates NIO’s second joint plant with JAC in the Xinqiao Science and Technology Innovation Demonstration Zone, is recorded as a vehicle manufacturing enterprise on the website of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT). The news comes after speculation that the nine-year-old EV maker has been mulling a bid for two production bases put on sale by partner JAC on Oct. 20, given Beijing’s tightening control over the release of manufacturing licenses for EVs in recent years. NIO has been delivering EVs produced with JAC since mid-2018 under an outsourcing agreement. [MIIT information, TechNode reporting, in Chinese]