RIO DE JANEIRO — China's JAC Motors will open its first plant in Brazil with an investment of nearly 200 million reals ($61 million), the company said Monday.

The plant in the central state of Goias, near Brazil's capital city Brasilia, will have the capacity of manufacturing up to 35,000 vehicles a year. The project is expected to take two years and provide about 820 direct and indirect jobs.

The announcement was made after JAC Motors Brazil President Sergio Habib presented the project during a meeting with Goias Governor Marconi Perillo.

JAC Motors expects a 40 percent growth in its vehicle sales in Brazil this year, far above the market's average growth of 11 percent.