Summary：CSR Corp. Ltd., China's largest train manufacturer, said it signed an agreement with a local partner on Tuesday to build a new subway train assembly plant in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

CSR Corp. Ltd., China's largest train manufacturer, said it signed an agreement with a local partner on Tuesday to build a new subway train assembly plant in the southwestern province of Sichuan.

Zhang Jun, vice president of CSR Corp. Ltd., said the plant, based in Sichuan's provincial capital of Chengdu, involves an investment of 980 million yuan (156 million U.S. dollars).

However, Zhang declined to disclose the stakes two of its subsidiaries and its partner, Chengdu Industry Investment Group Co. Ltd., will hold in the joint venture.

The plant, which initially plans to have an annual production capacity of 200 subway trains, will roll out its first subway train early next year, Zhang said, adding that the subway trains will be supplied to Chengdu and its surrounding cities to cash in on the boom in constructing metro lines seen in many large cities.

Chengdu is expected to have nine metro lines by 2020 with a total length of 336 km, said Bai Gang, vice mayor of Chengdu. The city currently has one subway line in operation, and is expected to open another two in the next four years.

The plant is the first project of CSR Corp. Ltd.'s Chengdu industrial base, which covers others sectors such as new energy, new materials and electric cars.

Last October, CSR Corp. Ltd. signed an agreement with the Chengdu municipal government to build its Chengdu base with an investment of 5 billion yuan.