China's automobile giant Dongfeng Motor Corporation Sunday moved its headquarters from the mountainous area in Hubei Province, central China, to the provincial capital of Wuhan, setting itself in a strategic location in the country.

The new headquarters is located in the Economic and Technological Development Zone of Wuhan, one of the leading industrial and commercial cities in China.

"The move of the headquarters is a necessity brought about by the company's current development, and it is also the wish of generations of Dongfeng staff," said General Manager Miao Xu.

Aiming for a competitive edge in the Chinese and world markets, Dongfeng chose to make the move out of the mountainous city of Shiyan, where the motor works was first built over three decades ago in the wake of China's national strategy of building up industries in interior areas.

The company implemented a nationwide development strategy in the 1980s. Now it has subsidiary companies in 10 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities and a number of research and development bases and sales centers in cities like Shiyan, Xiangfan, Wuhan, Guangzhou and Shanghai.

By the end of the last year, Dongfeng's total assets reached 58. 1 billion yuan (7 billion US dollars), with net assets standing at 21.7 billion yuan (2.6 billion US dollars) and employing a total of 117,000 people.

In the first eight months of this year, the company produced 329,000 vehicles, up 17.31 percent from a year earlier, and sold 321,000 units, up 18.91 percent. Its sales revenue for the eight months increased 17.59 percent to 52.1 billion yuan (6.3 billion US dollars) and profit jumped 28.4 percent to 4.6 billion (554 million US dollars).

The company has more foreign partners than any other Chinese auto companies. It has set up joint ventures with Cummins of the United States, Citroen of France, Kia of the Republic of Korea, and Nissan and Honda of Japan.

On July 1, Dongfeng and Nissan formed an equally owned 2 billion-US dollar venture based in Wuhan, which enable the Chinese automaker to use foreign capital to renovate manufacturing facilities that will remain in Shiyan, and appropriate, distribute and arrange its 100,000 employees.

The new firm, Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., has employed 74,000 people and officially went into operation on July 1, producing a full line of vehicles ranging from trucks and buses to light commercial vehicles and passenger cars.

Katsumi Nakamura, a Nissan executive appointed president of the joint venture, said that the headquarters of Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd. will also move to Wuhan where it is registered.

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