SHANGHAI, Aug. 13 -- KONKA Group Co Ltd, one of China's major home-appliance makers, is on a fast growth path.

The group is expanding its production of white appliances such as refrigerators and washing machines, as a new Konka refrigerator factory has been completed, said a company statement.

The Shenzhen-based company has invested 80 million yuan (US$10.57 million) in the White Appliances Industrial Park located in Chuzhou in eastern Anhui Province and plans to make white appliances its third major sector after color-TV sets and mobile phones.

The new factory can produce 400,000 refrigerators annually, which will boost Konka's production capacity of white appliances to one million units per year, said Konka Vice President He Jianjun.

Konka has been paying close attention to the white-appliance market since 1995, and entered the refrigerator market in 1998, He said.

As demand for white appliances grows rapidly, especially in small cities, Konka decided to expand its production capacity, He said, adding that sales of Konka's white appliances rose 50 percent annually in the past three years.

Meanwhile, in big cities demand for refrigerators also remains strong as residents are replacing their old ones that use fluorin with new fluorin-free models.

The corporation plans to have four refrigerator-production lines and two washing machine-production lines by 2010, which will make Konka one of the largest white appliances makers in China with annual production capacity of 2.8 million units.

Konka expects its sales of white appliances to double in the Middle East, South Asia and Africa in two years, He said.

Established in 1980, Konka was China's first Sino-foreign joint venture producing consumer electronics.