Jianghuai Automobile Co., a state-owned maker of trucks and passenger vehicles, plans to enter the microvan market and build a 1.4 billion yuan (US$ 223 million) plant to produce the vehicles.

The factory, in Mengchen in east China's Anhui province, will have annual capacity of 150,000 microvans. The project requires shareholder approval, Shanghai-listed JAC said in a statement.

The company did not disclose when it plans to start construction. But under its 2011-15 development plan, JAC expects the plant to reach full capacity by 2015.

JAC, of Hefei in Anhui province, sold 448,813 cars, trucks and chassis last year, down 4 percent year-on-year.

The company also is building a 3.7 billion yuan plant in Brazil with Brazilian dealer group SNS Auto. The factory will build cars and trucks.

In China, microvans are used to transport cargo and passengers in rural areas. Last year, 2.3 million microvans were sold in the country, according the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co., General Motors' microvan joint venture, is China's largest microvan maker with microvan sales exceeding 1.3 million units in 2012.