Facing fierce competition from foreign rivals, China's privately owned Great Wall Motor Co Ltd plans to invest 3.2 billion yuan ($510 million) in building a car manufacturing plant in Russia, its largest export destination.

According to Great Wall's statement filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Monday, the company based in Baoding, Hebei province, will sign an agreement with the government of Tula Oblast, and the Tula Oblast Public-Private Partnership Development Group for a wholly owned subsidiary plant in the oblast, an administrative district about 200 kilometers south of Moscow.

The factory is expected to produce up to 150,000 vehicles a year. An initial investment of 2.1 billion yuan ($337 million) will be used for the first phase of the factory. The company said a second phase will be depend on the commercial success of the project.