Chinese bus and sports utility vehicle maker Great Wall Automobile Holding Co Ltd said yesterday it will spend 2.2 billion yuan (US$266 million) through 2005 to boost production capacity to 350,000 units from 70,000 now.

Great Wall, the 11th-largest vehicle maker in China, will spend 1 billion yuan in the second half of this year and 1.2 billion yuan in 2005 to make new models of sports utility vehicles and multipurpose vehicles, General Manager Wang Fengying told a news conference.

Great Wall, the number three seller of SUVs in China, posted a sale decline in the first half which pulled its first-half net profit down 16.6 per cent to 239.08 million yuan as China's austerity measures dampened consumer confidence.