GERMANY-BASED Otto Bock, a leading producer of wheelchairs and artificial limbs, will open the company's first B2C store in Shanghai's Xintiandi area this year.

The store will sell wheelchairs mainly manufactured in China, the company said.

Otto Bock, a sponsor of the Life & Sunshine Pavilion at World Expo Shanghai, said it will invest "several million euros" in China every year to expand production and increase public awareness of the disabled.

Otto Bock's revenue in China makes up less than 5 percent of the company's total sales.