GUANGZHOU -- Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD has opened a global design center at the company's headquarters in Shenzhen, bringing its designers from around the world under one roof to build better cars.

The Chinese market for electric vehicles and other environmentally friendly cars continues to grow, but competition is fierce as newcomers flood the field. BYD hopes to bolster its design capabilities and develop unique vehicles aimed toward younger drivers.

The center spans 12,600 sq. meters and can accommodate 300 in-house designers and 100 external staffers. It contains an area dedicated to creating clay models of the cars. The site also will be used to design monorails, as BYD seeks inroads in that field domestically and abroad.

"Both technology and design must be grasped firmly, to transform BYD's products from being solely powered by 'technology' to leveraging the combined power of 'technology + design,'" President and Chairman Wang Chuanfu said in a statement released on June 25.

BYD sold over 250,000 environmentally friendly cars in 2018, making it the leading player in China. But the government is gradually reducing subsidies for such vehicles, which could slow the growth in the market.

Foreign players like Tesla also are pouring resources into China, adding to the competition. BYD hopes that strong design capabilities will help differentiate the company from rivals and propel future growth.