Automakers Renault and Nissan announced on Friday a partnership with the Chinese government to develop a plan for mass marketing electric vehicles and building a battery-charging network.

Under the deal, the automakers will work with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Wuhan municipal government to build a pilot electric-car program in the city. Nissan might provide free electric vehicles to Wuhan to help build the network, The Wall Street Journal reported. It isn’t clear how much money the project involves.

“We are establishing innovative partnerships with governments, cities and agencies to promote EVs worldwide, and in China we will work closely with our local partners to develop the EV market,” Toshiyuki Shiga, chief operating officer of Nissan, said in a statement.

This is the latest deal announced by the Renault-Nissan Alliance, a cooperation between the two companies to market electric vehicles worldwide. The alliance has initiatives underway in Europe, Israel, Japan, and the United States. The companies already had signaled that China was one of their primary markets for electric vehicles, having announced plans to bring their zero-emission cars to the Asian country in early 2011.

This deal should help the alliance build a beachhead in China and push the creation of a battery-charging network, which analysts believe is critical for mass adoption of the electric vehicles.

The Chinese ministry believes it could learn from the alliance, especially Nissan, which has a track record in electric propulsion, according to The Wall Street Journal report. China has selected 13 cities for pilot programs to boost the use of “new energy” vehicles. Besides Wuhan, the cities also include Beijing and Shanghai.