The company plans to build technology centers in Europe, Japan and the United States, Wei told journalists at a technology show organized by the company.

He did not provide a time frame for launching the new facilities.

By 2015, Great Wall expects to double its engineering payroll to more than 10,000 employees. It also plans to hire 1,000 engineers from overseas to staff its technical centers.

Great Wall, which is based in Baoding in north China's Hebei province, sold more than 487,000 vehicles last year. Of those, 83,000 vehicles were exported, according to the automaker. Its main export markets include Russia, South Africa, Australia and Chile.

In February, the company opened a plant in Bulgaria to assemble vehicles from semi-knockdown kits as well as complete knockdown kits imported from China.

Great Wall also has built 10 SKD and CKD plants in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.