GENERAL Motors Corp's Chinese minicar venture has opened a two-billion-yuan (US$263 million) engine plant to take advantage of the country's booming vehicle sales.

SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co will start production in August with the capacity to produce 300,000 engines a year, GM said in a statement yesterday. The factory in Liuzhou, southwest China, will make 1.1-liter and 1.2-liter engines.

GM, the largest United States car maker, has opened new plants in China while closing factories at home, as it aims to raise annual sales here to one million vehicles by next year at the latest, Bloomberg News reported. SAIC-GM could raise its annual capacity to 700,000 vehicles from about 400,000, Kevin Wale, chairman of GM's China unit, said in April.