Global tire giant Bridgestone Corp. has set up its first solely-funded subsidiary in Wuxi City of Jiangsu Province, east China.

A spokesperson for the company said the project involved 99 million US dollars in investment, and would develop and manufacture tires and parts for high and medium grade cars.

Covering 240,000 square meters, the plant has a designed capacity to produce 2.74 million tires a year when operations begin in September 2004.

Industry sources say the establishment of the new factory indicates a major step of Bridgestone to shift its focus of production from Japan and expand its market share in China and theother parts of the world.
 
(Xinhua News Agency August 5, 2003)