NEC Electronics Corp., Japan's third-biggest semiconductor maker, and China FAW Group Corp. will jointly develop car electronics to meet demand in the world's second-biggest automotive market.

NEC Electronics's China subsidiary and Qiming Information Technology Co., a unit of FAW, agreed to set up a laboratory in Changchun, northeast China, to develop the products, the Kawasaki-based company and FAW said Friday in an e-mailed statement. They plan to sell the newly developed electronics from 2009.

FAW, China's second-largest automaker, and NEC Electronics join General Motors Corp. in entering China's car electronics market as expansion in the fastest growing major economy fuels vehicle demand. China's car market is estimated to increase 70 percent to 9.2 million vehicles by 2012, according to Global Insight Inc.

NEC Electronics and FAW didn't provide financial details. Qiming will develop the devices containing NEC Electronics's microcontrollers, and Ryosan Co., a Japanese electronics component distributor, is also part of the tieup, according to the statement.