Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Company, China's leading auto industry joint venture, began construction of its second plant in Guangzhou City's Huadu District Saturday.

With an investment of 5 billion yuan (732 million U.S. dollars), the new plant is expected to begin production in 2012 with an annual production capacity of 240,000 units, said Ren Yong, the company's vice-general manager.

The new plant will cover 2.4 million square meters.

It will bring the company's production capacity in Huadu up to 600,000 units per year, making Huadu Nissan's largest automobile production base.

Together with its production base in Xiangfan, Hubei Province, annual capacity of the Sino-Japanese joint venture will exceed 900,000 units by 2012.

Dongfeng Nissan was co-founded by the Dongfeng Automobile Group Co. Ltd. and the Nissan Automobile Co. Ltd. in 2003. It sold 520,000 units in 2009 to rank sixth among China's passenger car makers.