According to Xinhua, at least 40 percent of the Xiao Kang's assembly will be transferred to Thailand.

Chen Rongyu, chairman of Dongfeng Motor Minitruck Thailand, told Xinhua that the plant will launch production next month and will reach full capacity next year.

Dongfeng currently sells about 3,000 minitrucks annually in Thailand through 39 dealerships. The company expects to double sales in coming years.

Dongfeng, a state-owned automaker, is headquartered in Wuhan in central China. It is China's second largest domestic automaker, with sales of 1.7 million units through August.

It has joint ventures with Nissan, Honda, Kia, PSA Peugeot-Citroen and Yulon.