Toyota Motor Corp. plans to build a third auto plant in Tianjin, China with annual capacity of 200,000 units, the Asahi Shimbun daily reported.

A Toyota spokesman said no decision had been made on building another plant in China, where the world's No.2 auto maker already has 13 production sites, but the report said construction would begin by the end of the year with operations starting in 2007.

The newspaper said the factory, which would be Toyota's fifth assembly plant in China, would raise its annual output capacity in the country, including that of a Guangzhou plant to start up in 2006, to more than 500,000 units from about 230,000 now.

As of 0017 GMT, shares in Toyota were down 0.76 percent at 3,910 yen. The Nikkei average was up 0.23 percent.

(Agencies)

start up : get going or set in motion（發(fā)動，開動）