(Photo : Haier)

China's largest appliance maker Haier Group said it will build a refrigerator production plant in Poland with Europe's fifth-largest domestic appliances manufacturer Fagor.

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Haier Group, which is headquartered in Qingdao, Shandong, China, will hold a majority stake, or 51 per cent, in the joint venture with Fagor. The total investment is expected to reach up to $73.5 million.

According to a report from China Daily, the new refrigerator production factory will start operating in June of 2014 with an annual capacity of 500,000 units. In 2019 the Polish plant is expected to manufacture 1 million refrigerators.

Haier Group will be co-operating the refrigerator plant with Fagor, which holds the remaining 49 per cent stake. Fagor is a large domestic and commercial appliance manufacturer based in the Basque Country, Spain.  It is run by the Mondragon Corporation.

China Is World's Biggest Home Appliance Market

It was not yet known if the refrigerators manufactured in Poland will be shipped to China for domestic consumption or if it will be sent to countries around the world. China is the world's biggest home appliance market, according to experts.

The refrigerator production factory in Poland is not the first European investment of Haier. The company currently has a European headquarters in France, a research and development center in Germany, and a production center in Italy.

Haier's global revenue in 2012 reached a gross of $25 billion, with profits hitting $1.42 billion, according to data released by Euromonitor International. According to a survey conducted by Survate, Haier ranks fourth as the most popular Chinese brands for Americans. Lenovo comes in first followed by Baidu and Huawei.

Home Appliance Industry To Hit $105 Billion

Euromonitor, a global market research company, earlier said China's home appliance industry is expected to reach $105 billion in the next two year.

This growth potential has triggered Haier to further expand into logistics and e-commerce in a bid to further grab a larger share in China, which is considered as the world's biggest home appliance market.