FILE PHOTO: A Volkswagen logo is pictured during the Volkswagen Group's annual general meeting in Berlin, Germany, May 3, 2018. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt/File Photo

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen VOWG_p.DE said its Spanish brand SEAT would return to the Chinese market in 2020/21 as part of an agreement with China's Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group (JAC) 600418.SS to develop electric vehicles.

It signed an agreement on the matter with JAC as Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met in Berlin on Monday.

VW and JAC received approval last year from Chinese regulators to form a joint venture to make electric vehicles.

VW, SEAT and JAC will now jointly set up a new research and development center in China to develop electric cars as well as technologies for connectivity and autonomous driving, VW said.

SEAT will take a stake in joint venture JAC Volkswagen, either via a capital increase at the venture or through a transfer of shares from Volkswagen Group China, it added.