"Currently, we are still focusing on Russia and South America, among others, as our major export markets," said Lu Jianhui, deputy general manager of Chery, at an industry forum in the southern Chinese city of Chengdu. "Our goal is to start selling vehicles in Europe after 2015."

Chery expects to ship 180,000 vehicles overseas this year, double last year's exports, Lu said. The automaker hopes to export one million units in seven or eight years, he added.

Chery, which started selling cars overseas in 2002, is now China's biggest auto exporter.

Last month, a German newspaper reported that Chery had established a 1.5 billion euro (13 billion yuan) joint venture with Israel Corp.

Starting next year, the partners reportedly will build three compact models to be sold in China and exported to Europe. Austrian coach builder Magna Steyr will help develop the vehicles, the report said.

The joint venture, Chery Quantum Auto, told the newspaper that it will announce further details in November.