The LEGO Group will soon building and operating its own factory in China and supply products for the growing Asian market.

The state-of-the-art factory, which will commence construction in 2014, will rise in Jiaxing City, approximately 100 km from Shanghai where the company plans to locate a regional distribution centre for Asia.

By 2017, the factory is expected to be fully operational and have approximately 2000 employees.

Currently, LEGO does not operate its own manufacturing facility in China, but with the new production site including moulding, decoration and packaging facilities, it will have a supply base for future growth in the region where its sales have grown by more than 50% annually in recent years.

“Based on our current expectations for growth in Asia, the factory should be able to supply approximately 70-80% of all the LEGO products sold in the region in 2017. All products made in the new factory will be sold in Asia,” said Michael McNulty, Senior Vice President, Procurement, adding that the new factory will be built and run with the same technology, automation and standards for employee safety and product quality as its other factories located in Denmark, Hungary, Czech Republic and Mexico.