General Motors Co's China venture has won approval from a local environmental authority to build a $1.1 billion plant in central Hubei province, following the imposition of tighter control over foreign investment in the automaking sector.
Shanghai General Motors, GM's flagship passenger car venture with SAIC Motor Corp, aims to add a new 300,000-unit plant in the city of Wuhan, a statement posted on the website of the Hubei Environmental Protection Bureau showed.
China recently altered a list of industries for which it wants to attract foreign investment, downgrading traditional heavy manufacturing and putting more emphasis on new technology sectors.
China's once-booming car market, the largest in the world, cooled to a 5.2 percent gain last year, after jumping 53 percent in 2009 and 33 percent in 2010.
The slowdown has been blamed on a number of factors, ranging from the end of tax incentives for small cars to government efforts to ease worsening traffic congestion in major cities.