Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. plans to relocate part of its home-use air conditioner production to China next year, Matsushita officials said Thursday.

On a value basis, Matsushita holds the top share of 17 percent in the domestic market for home-use air conditioners.

The firm is seeking to shift production of lower-grade air conditioners whose market prices range between 50,000 yen and 60,000 yen to its Chinese plant in the city of Guangdong. Japanese factories will continue to produce higher-grade air conditioners containing sophisticated features.

"The industrial infrastructure such as supply sources of electronics components has been completed in China," said Tetsu Kimoto, chief of the air conditioner business department at Matsushita. "We would like to seize control of the market for lower-grade air conditioners by pushing efforts to cut production costs (through the Chinese production) with an eye to boosting our overall share in the air conditioner market."

The Guangdong plant has churned out between 500,000 and 600,000 air conditioners annually, all bound for Chinese consumers.

Matsushita plans to increase the plant's annual output to more than 1 million by pushing the factory utilization ratio up to 100 percent, the officials said, adding that the expansion drive will incorporate products bound for the Japanese market.

Currently, Matsushita air conditioners made overseas account for 10 percent of the firm's global annual production of air conditioners.

Matsushita is aiming to bolster this ratio to 35 percent during the next business year, which runs from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30.