(The Nikkei Sept. 29)
Jtekt Corp. plans to set up a Chinese joint venture with a local firm to produce and market automotive bearings.

The Toyota Motor Corp. affiliate said Tuesday that it will establish a 50-50 venture with Wafangdian Bearing Group Corp., a leading producer based in Liaoning Province. Total investments are estimated at 1 billion yuan, or roughly 12.5 billion yen.

With annual sales of 5.8 billion yuan, Wafangdian Bearing employs 12,000 workers. The two companies launched an auto bearing joint venture in Dalian back in 1995. Their new endeavor will consider branching out to industrial machinery, including rail and wind power applications.

Jtekt already operates 14 production sites in China and holds a 5% share of the local auto bearing market. Through the new joint venture, it plans to further leverage Wafangdian's sales network with local carmakers. The company aims to grab 20% of the market, tripling Chinese sales to 110 billion yen by 2015.

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