Nissan has formed a joint venture with Dongfeng Motor to produce Infiniti vehicles in China.

Nissan and Dongfeng each will control 50% of the venture, which will sell locally produced and imported vehicles, the automaker said in a statement on September 22nd.

Infiniti China Managing Director Daniel Kirchert was named president of the joint venture, which will be called Dongfeng Infiniti Motor.

Infiniti aims to increase annual sales in China to 100,000 vehicles by 2018, most of which will be locally produced.

The announcement comes as industry wide passenger-vehicle sales in China last month rose at the slowest pace since March as the economy cools.

Locally manufactured Infiniti vehicles will come from the Xiangyang factory of Dongfeng Nissan Passenger Vehicle Co. The first batch will include two models specifically made for China: the Q50L sport sedan and a stretched version of the QX50 crossover, according to the statement.

Production of Infiniti Q50L will start this year, and QX50 manufacturing will start early next year, the company said.

Infiniti sold 18,279 vehicles in the first eight months of this year, more than double the year-earlier period. Sales rose 54% in 2013.

Since July, automakers including Jaguar Land Rover, Mercedes-Benz and BMW have announced price cuts following the government's investigations into overpriced cars and spare parts.