HANGZHOU, Nov. 3 -- A plant in eastern China's Zhejiang Province will be used for producing Volvo's new car model and Geely's new SUV brand, the first such manufacturing project since the Swedish car maker merged with China's Geely in 2010.

Zhejiang-based Geely on Wednesday confirmed that its plant in Luqiao, some 350 km south of Shanghai, will manufacture Volvo's 40-series compact car, as well as the Lynk &Co, a compact SUV model that Geely unveiled in October.

Part of Volvo's new development strategy is to make China its manufacturing and export hub to serve the growing demand for its new range of cars, in the United States, Europe and Asia, said Hakan Samuelsson, CEO of Volvo Cars.

He said that all Volvo car plants adhere to Volvo Cars' global manufacturing system, following its global quality standards.

Volvo produces its top-of-the-range S90-series in Daqing, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

The company has announced that production of its new S90 premium sedan will be moved from Europe to China.

In 2015, the first batch of Volvo's S60 Inscription model, manufactured in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, were exported to the United States. It was the first Western car manufacturer to export a premium China-made car to the United States.

Volvo's annual revenue doubled in the past three years, and China has become the manufacturer's biggest market. In the first ten months, Volvo sold 71,345 vehicles in China, up from 63,522 the same period last year.