Chinese Battery Maker Picks Illinois for $2 Billion Factory (1)

A Chinese battery maker picked Illinois for a $2 billion gigafactory that’s set to start production next year.

Gotion High-tech Co.’sfacility will create 2,600 jobs and is the “most significant new manufacturing investment in Illinois in decades,” Governor J.B. Pritzker said in a statement on Friday. The plant, focusing on lithium-ion battery cell, battery-pack production and energy storage systems, received state incentives valued at $536 million.

Illinois has been trying to position itself as a hub for new technologies from quantum computing to life sciences and electric vehicle manufacturing. The state has recently created a task force, known as ...