(July 15, 2010) Volkswagen said today it plans to build an assembly plant in eastern China as part of an effort to double capacity in the world's biggest auto market within four years, according to Bloomberg News.

The factory in Yizheng, Jiansu province, will have a capacity to build 300,000 vehicles and will begin production in 2013, Volkswagen said in a statement.

VW announced plans last month to build a factory in Foshan in the southern province of Guangdong.

The two factories will increase VW's production sites in China to 11 and give the carmaker an annual capacity in the country of 3 million vehicles. VW is investing 6 billion euros ($7.7 billion) to expand in the country as vehicle sales boom.

“It's a sensible step to take as China's long-term growth prospects still have to be judged very positively,” said Marc-Rene Tonn, an analyst at M.M. Warburg in Hamburg.

Volkswagen, the biggest foreign carmaker in China, boosted sales in that market by 46 percent in the first six months to 950,278 vehicles. VW sold 1.4 million cars and SUVs in China last year and aims to more than double output to 3 million units as early as 2013, CEO Martin Winterkorn said on June 9.