Crown Equipment Corporation plans to build a manufacturing plant in Suzhou, China, and eventually transfer production of several of its smaller models from a plant in Galway, Ireland.

Suzhou, in Jiangsu Province, is about 120 kilometres west of Shanghai.

"To further improve Crown's ability to compete in the global market and to position ourselves to participate in the rapidly growing Chinese market, we needed to establish a physical presence in China," Jim Moran, Crown senior vice president, said in a statement.

On May 23, Crown said it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese government to build the plant in the rapidly developing Suzhou New District, a high-technology industrial development zone about five kilometres west of central Suzhou.

Construction can start after the State Council of China approves Crown's application for a business licence. Crown did not indicate when approval was anticipated or the physical size or employment requirements for the new facility.

Once the Suzhou site is operational, Crown plans to wind down production at Galway, which has been the firm's primary manufacturing facility with responsibility for production of Crown's smaller range of trucks.

Crown said the new Suzhou plant would manufacture and export several smaller models in the firm's product line.

Crown would also establish a retail operation at the Suzhou site to provide sales and service to the local market and support "the significant number of existing Crown customers with locations in China".

New Bremen-based Crown did not disclose its China market penetration or its in-country customers' current or projected volume of Crown units.