Wuxi, Jiangsu – Chinese tire maker General Science Technology plans to trial its first overseas plant in Thailand in December 2019, according to the company's first half report.

Located in Rayong Industrial Zone, the plant has $300 million (€259 million) total investment, and is designed to produce 1 million truck and bus tires and 6 million passenger car tires per year.

The company also has another project in the pipeline, which involves a fully automated smart plant with 1.2 million unit annual capacity for high performance truck and bus tires, at its production site in Wuxi, Jiangsu.

Over the first half of 2019 General Science recorded sales of €218 million (1.7 billion yuan), down 12% from the same period last year.

Net profit dropped 15% to €7 million, amid global trade conflicts and China’s nationwide downturn in the automotive sector, said the half year report.

The country had 12.3 million unit auto sales in H1 2019, down 12% from a year ago according to China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Passenger car sales decreased by 14% to 10.1 million unit, commercial vehicle sales slid 4% to 2.2 million unit.

Tire production over the period also shrank 7% year on year to 404 million unit.