China's JAC eyes car assembly plant in Slovakia

Chinese carmaker Jianghuai Automobile Co is in talks with the Slovak government on a possible investment, the economy ministry said on Tuesday.

JAC, which says it is among the top 10 Chinese automotive firms with an annual capacity of 500,000 cars, is considering building an assembly plant in Slovakia to take advantage of the country's euro zone membership, central European location and business environment, the ministry said.

The euro zone's newest member, emerging from its deepest crisis to date, needs new investment to cut unemployment which has hit five-year highs.

"We are negotiating conditions of our entry to your (Slovak) market with Slovak officials," the economy ministry cited JAC regional head David Wang as saying.

"Therefore, I do not want to be specific about the size of the investment in this phase. All I can says is that it is about passenger cars and light trucks," he said.

The Slovak economy is driven by the automotive sector, centred around assembly plants of Volkswagen, PSA Peugeot Citroen and Kia Motors Corp.