CHENGDU, April 10 (Xinhua) -- The first phase of an automatic production line of hydrogen-powered cells went into operation Wednesday in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

It is the first such automatic production line in the western areas of China, indicating that hydrogen cells in Sichuan went from small scale to mass, automatic production.

According to investor Dongfang Electric Corporation (DEC), the production line has an annual production capacity of churning out 1,000 engines powered by hydrogen cells.

"Take for example the membrane electrode, the core part of the cells, we can save up to 60 percent of the costs with domestic production," said Lu Yi, with the hydrogen cell company under Dongfang Electric Corporation.

In the future, the corporation will focus on providing comprehensive solutions of hydrogen energy usage, as well as core parts of fuel cells, said Xu Peng, DEC's vice general manager.

DEC started developing hydrogen cells in 2010, and has mastered core technologies in the past few years.

Last year, 10 public buses using DEC's hydrogen cell engines became operational for commercial use in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan. So far, the buses have ran more than 400,000 km safely.