Chinese automaker JAC Motors has posted an annual loss for the sixth time in a row. 

JAC said on Tuesday night that it saw a net loss of 1.4 billion yuan (US$210 million) last year. The company said sales were down last year by 4.5 percent due to the pandemic and a shortage of chips. Government subsidies also shrank. JAC received about 155 million yuan from the government last year.

But the poor performance didn’t stop JAC from spending lavishly on EV startup Nio. In December last year, it bought a Nio factory plant in Anhui Province for 1.7 billion yuan. JAC has stated more than once that it was working with Nio to establish a “world-class EV factory” which owned the first full aluminum body assembly line in China.