Versarien plc, the advanced materials engineering group, is pleased to announce that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Tunghsu Optoelectronic Technology Ltd. covering cooperation between the parties, particularly focused on graphene industrialization.

Tunghsu Optoelectronic is one of the world's leading suppliers of optoelectronic display materials.  It is currently the largest LCD glass substrate manufacturer in China and the fourth largest LCD glass substrate manufacturer in the world.

In addition, Tunghsu Optoelectronic is engaged in other areas, including the manufacturing of new energy vehicles, the industrialization and applications of graphene, as well as high-end equipment manufacturing.  It is listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and is part of the wider Tunghsu Group, which has over 200 wholly-owned or controlled subsidiaries, including three listed companies; Tunghsu Optoelectronic, Tunghsu Sky and Tungshu Challenge.

The MOU with Tunghsu Optoelectronic covers the intended areas of cooperation between the parties, which include:

• Jointly developing graphene-related projects including their operation and execution, industrialization and promotion, leading to sales in China and global markets and exploring more widely products utilizing graphene.
• Together with governmental agencies, academic institutions, and other relevant organizations, to set up a "Graphene Industry Research Institute" in China, to fund, accelerate and invest in the productization and commercialization of graphene application projects.
• To jointly establish a "Graphene Industry Fund" to promote and support the operation and execution of graphene industrialization projects.
• To discuss mutual strategic investments for graphene-based projects, the forms of which will be agreed in future discussions.  It is envisaged that Tunghsu will provide financial support as well as strategic support and in return Versarien will provide the required intellectual property to enable the industrialization of graphene-based projects.
• Focus technical collaboration on projects closely related to both parties' current areas of activity, such as high-quality graphene manufacturing, photoelectric display materials, new energy vehicles, energy storage technologies, LED lighting systems, graphene thermal management materials, and flexible batteries.

The MOU is not exclusive and will allow Versarien to enter into further agreements with parties in China.

Lipeng Wang, Chairman and CEO of Tunghsu Optoelectronic, commented, "Versarien is a leading company and operator in the graphene field in the UK.  China has a huge market potential for graphene industrialization and commercialization.  As the leading enterprise in the graphene field in China, we are very pleased to work with Versarien to promote valuable collaboration and innovation, and ultimately achieve mutual success."

Neill Ricketts, CEO of Versarien, commented, "We are delighted to have entered into a formal collaboration with Tunghsu Optoelectronic.  As one of the pioneers of China's graphene industry, Tunghsu Optoelectronic has strong industrial influence and execution ability in China and in Asia more widely.  We look forward to working with them to progress the commercialization of our graphene products.

"The relationship with Tunghsu Optoelectronic is complimentary to the others we have already entered into in China and those that are under discussion.  We look forward to providing updates as the relationship progresses and announcing further agreements with both industrial and governmental parties in China.”