ZURICH, Switzerland — Swatch Group has signed a contract with Chinese car maker Geely, allowing it to use an innovative battery developed by the watchmaker's research firm Belenos, its chief executive said in an interview on Sunday.

"We're giving Geely the possibly to use our revolutionary battery system," Nick Hayek told NZZ am Sonntag. "This is a first breakthrough for our invention and shows the huge interest industrial firms take in it."

Hayek has said that the performance of the new battery, co-developed with ETH Zurich, is at least 30 percent superior to ordinary batteries.

A memorandum of understanding with Geely was signed mid-May, Hayek said in the interview without giving financial details.

By Silke Koltrowitz; editor: Alison Williams.