Toyota JV spending $525 mln to expand China plant

SHANGHAI, July 7 (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) and a China joint venture partner, FAW Group, are investing 3.6 billion yuan ($525 million) to more than double the production capacity of a plant in southwest China's Sichuan province to 30,000 units.

The expansion is due to be completed by the first half of 2010, Toyota said in a statement over the weekend.

The move will boost the annual capacity of the venture to 510,000 units from 493,000 units, while increasing Toyota's overall capacity in China to 830,000 units, a company spokeswoman said.

Toyota, which also makes cars in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, sold 499,000 vehicles in China last year, up 62 percent from a year earlier and beating its target of 480,000. ($1=6.858 Yuan) (Reporting by Fang Yan; Editing by Edmund Klamann)