Mexico City, Aug 17 (IANS/EFE): A delegation of officials and businessmen from China's Anhui province expressed interest in installing an automotive assembly plant in the southeastern Mexican state of Yucatan.

The group was received by state Gov. Ivonne Ortega and senior members of her administration.

At the meeting, the Chinese businessmen also said they were interested in investing in the Mexican housing sector, as well as promoting trade with Yucatan.

The manager of the Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Co. Ltd., Jiao Hao, outlined the company's plans for international expansion, the Yucatan provincial government said in a communique.

Among those plans is setting up a factory in Mexico to make exports for the US market, the communique said.

Jiao said the company has an assembly line in Brazil, which supplies some 50,000 units per year to South America.

"Our idea is to produce a similar quantity of vehicles in Mexico for distribution, first light trucks and then cars," the Chinese businessman said.

Gov. Ortega said that land is available in Yucatan for building a plant near the port of Progreso, which would facilitate the export of vehicles and replacement parts.

The Yucatan Peninsula on the Gulf of Mexico is strategically located for reaching the coasts of several states in the US, Ortega said.