Nobel International Ltd, the largest maker of laser-welded steel products in North America, has agreed to set up a venture with Wuhan Iron and Steel Co in China.

The partnership will focus on laser-welded metal sheets to tap into China's rising automobile demand, Bloomberg News reported Wednesday.

Noble and Wuhan steel, China's third-biggest steel maker, will each invest up to 1.25 million U.S. dollars in cash, the Michigan-based company said in a statement carried on the PRNewswire.

The venture, expected to start operation in the second half of next year, is seeking Chinese government approval.

China's booming economic growth, which has averaged 10 percent for each of the past three years, has turned the nation into the world's fastest-growing major vehicle market.

Wuhan steel, Baosteel Group Corp and other Chinese steel makers are boosting output to replace imports of the sheets, used in the bodies of automobiles, from South Korea's Posco, Japan's Nippon Steel Corp and JFE Holdings Inc.

Sales of passenger cars, multi-purpose and sport-utility vehicles grew 28 percent to 410,000 units in October, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

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