KUNMING, Sept. 12 -- Global home furnishing giant IKEA on Thursday began constructing its first store in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

The outlet store in Kunming, the provincial capital, is scheduled to open for business at the end of 2020.

With an investment of over 1 billion yuan (about 141 million U.S. dollars), the three-story building will have over 120,000 square meters of floor space, the company said.

After entering China more than two decades ago, IKEA has been developing fast and expanding its presence to more cities, said Lukasz Ostrowski, area director of IKEA China, at the ground-breaking ceremony.

China is one of the most important markets for IKEA in the world, where "we have full confidence in the future development," Ostrowski said, adding that IKEA is accelerating its expansion in China both online and offline.

IKEA opened its first Chinese mainland store in Shanghai in 1998. It is expected to have more than 35 stores in China by 2020. It currently operates 28 stores in 22 cities on the Chinese mainland and has another eight stores under construction.

Kunming has maintained a good momentum of economic growth, and its economic strength has remained at the forefront in the western region. "All of these advantages provide Kunming with great potential for further growth and also lay the foundation for an IKEA store," Ostrowski said.