Fuji Heavy Industries, owner of the Subaru brand, Tuesday has agreed in principal to join hands with Chinese private automaker Chery Automobile to produce Subaru vehicles in China, according to Beijing Business Today.

The Tokyo-based transportation conglomerate will join with Chery set up a joint plant in Dalian, northeast China's Liaoning province, the newspaper said, citing foreign media.

Chery spokesperson Jin Yibo said he had "no information" concerning the deal. Subaru China also refused to comment, saying they hadn't received confirmation from headquarters.

But a person close to Chery said the two automakers have agreed on a number of major terms and conditions and are now awaiting approval from Chinese regulators.

The companies have decided to remain low-key on the deal for now. An official statement on the partnership will be released after the Chinese government approves the deal.

The inside source also said Fuji Heavy and Chery will invest 30 billion yen (US$366.3 million) in the Dalian plant, which will have an initial annual capacity of 50,000 units, eventually rising to 150,000.

If the deal goes through, China will become Subaru's second largest overseas production base after the United States.

斯巴魯汽車的生產商日本富士重工昨日已經原則上同意與中國汽車生產商奇瑞汽車攜手合作，共同在中國生產斯巴魯汽車。

富士重工與奇瑞將會共同在中國東北的遼寧省大連市組建工廠生產斯巴魯汽車，報道援引外電消息稱。

奇瑞汽車新聞發言人金弋波表示，“目前沒有信息可供發布”。而斯巴魯中國方面也表示，尚未收到日本方面的確認，不愿對此事過多置評。

一位接近奇瑞汽車的人士表示，雙方已在許多關鍵條款上達成一致，正等待中國政府監管機構批準。

因此雙方暫對此事保持低調。有關雙方合作協議的正式官方消息將在審批結束后公布。

據上述消息，富士重工與奇瑞將共同投資300億日元在大連建廠。首期建成后將形成年產5萬輛整車的規模，最終產能目標為15萬輛。

如果交易成功，這將使中國成為繼美國之后，斯巴魯第二大海外生產基地。