HEFEI -- Leading private Chinese automaker Chery will set up a joint venture (JV) with China-Africa Development Fund to further explore the car market in Africa, according to an agreement signed Friday in Hefei city, the capital of Anhui province.

The company, however, did not state a time when the JV would be established.

The Chery Overseas Industrial Investment Co Ltd, as the new company is called, will have a registered capital of 1.265 billion yuan ($197.7 million), with Chery's ratio of investment accounting for 55 percent, according to the agreement.

The registered capital will eventually be expanded to 3.25 billion yuan, the agreement said.

The JV will take over all Chery's existing auto investment and trade businesses in Africa, said Yin Tongyue, board chairman of Chery Automobile Co Ltd.

"The joint venture will set up plants or auto financing companies in major African countries. As the only entity, it will manage and hold the rights and interests of all its projects in Africa," Yin said.

Chery, based in East China's Anhui province, entered the African market in 2003. It sells around 15,000 cars each year in Egypt and South Africa respectively. It also has a CKD (completely knocked-down) plant in Egypt with an annual production of 15,000 cars.

In the first half of this year, Chery exported 71,827 vehicles, up 88.5 percent year-on-year. The company maintained stable sales growth in its traditional overseas markets, such as Russia, Ukraine, Iran and Egypt.