GENERAL Motors Corp opened its eighth vehicle plant in China and said it has no plans to add further capacity amid slowing demand in Asia's biggest auto market.

This 'has been a big year in terms of expansion' and it 'probably will keep us occupied for the foreseeable future,' Kevin Wale, GM China's president, told Bloomberg News by phone yesterday. He spoke from the northeastern city of Shenyang in Liaoning Province after the opening of the car maker's new 2.67-billion-yuan (US$390 million) plant.

GM expects to boost sales on China's mainland by about 9 percent next year as it adds new models and the central government's 4-trillion-yuan economic stimulus plan will help revive overall demand. Auto sales in China have declined in three of the past four months because of the global economic slowdown.

'That is a short-term downturn,' Wale said. We are 'building capacity for the long term and we are very comfortable with what we are doing.'

GM, the biggest overseas auto maker in China, is counting on emerging markets and aid from the United States government to help it survive a plunge in North American sales. The Detroit-based auto maker expects to sell as many as 1.2 million vehicles in China next year, Wale said on December 5.

The new factory in Shenyang will be able to make as many as 150,000 vehicles a year, using a two-shift system, GM said. The plant is an equal venture between GM and SAIC Motor Corp, China's biggest auto maker.

GM's total capacity in China is more than 1 million vehicles a year, spokesman Henry Wong said. The car maker opened a new plant in Qingdao in Shandong Province in March with a capacity of 300,000 vehicles a year.

The US auto maker has no plans to shed workers in China, Wale said. The company said it expects a 'single digit' increase in industry-wide sales next year, which will be boosted by China's economic stimulus measures.