MEXICO CITY, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Mexican authorities announced Wednesday that Chinese automaker JAC would soon begin producing cars in the central Mexican state of Hidalgo.

Hidalgo Governor Omar Fayad announced the 4.4-billion-peso (212-million-U.S.-dollar) deal between Mexico's Giant Motors Latinoamerica and Chinese state-owned automaker JAC Motors at a press conference in the capital.

Under the deal, Mexico will begin assembling Chinese cars in March at a plant in Ciudad Sahagun, about 60 km northeast of Mexico City and the first cars are expected to roll off assembly lines in the second half of this year.

Mexico's Minister of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo said that the deal came at a time when the country is trying to diversify its sources of foreign investment amid uncertainty over its future ties with the United States.