China's TCL and Italy's Visy Electric in Refrigerator JV Nov 10, 2004

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TCL Corp said its home appliance unit has invested 100 million yuan (approx. U.S. $12.1 million) in a joint venture refrigerator production base in the eastern Chinese city of Qingdao.

TCL will team up with Visy Electric (Qingdao) Co. Ltd., an Italian electric appliance joint venture.

In the first phase of the cooperation, the two companies will build a factory with an annual production capacity of 500,000 units, the company said in a statement. Some of the new venture's products will be exported, it added.

No financial details of Visy's investment were revealed.

Many of TCL's home appliances, which are mainly marketed under its own name, no longer meet the challenges of a rapidly developing and consolidating industry, TCL said. As a result, the company will enhance competitiveness by teaming up with leading international brands, said Shi Biguang, head of TCL's white goods operations. Last week, the company announced a joint venture with Toshiba.

TCL is aiming to rank among the top three home-appliances makers in China within 2 to 3 years, the company said. (AFX)

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