Tesla will deepen its innovation activities and expand business areas in China, the U.S. carmaker's Beijing branch said Thursday.

Established in October, Tesla's first overseas research and development innovation center, based in Beijing, will focus on areas such as software and hardware development, localization, China and Asia-Pacific data analysis, intelligent connected vehicles (ICV), as well as charging technology.

The center has an R&D team of about 30 people and is expected to expand to over 100 by 2020.

China is the biggest market for Tesla outside the United States. "With the talent base in Beijing, we plan to conduct further cooperation with the municipal government, research institutes and colleges and universities," said Ren Yuxiang, vice president and head for the Asia Pacific.

Tesla has just announced plans to open its first overseas plant in Shanghai, with a planned annual capacity of 500,000 electric cars.