ZHENGZHOU, China (Kyodo) Nissan Motor Co. President Carlos Ghosn said Monday the automaker will double its annual production capacity in China to 1.2 million units by 2012.

His comments were made at a ceremony marking completion of a new factory in Zhengzhou, Henan Province.

While Ghosn had initially set the annual production target in China at 900,000 units by 2012, he made a drastic upward adjustment in the face of rapid growth of the auto market there.

Nissan invested around ¥12.7 billion in the new factory, where it aims to manufacture 140,000 units a year for now and expand to 180,000 units by 2012.