ZHUHAI - Sany Group Co Ltd, the sixth-largest heavy machinery manufacturer in the world and the largest in China, has broken ground on an industrial park in the southern province of Guangdong, the company announced on Wednesday.

Construction of the 10-billion-yuan ($1.6 billion) project started on Tuesday in Zhuhai, a city on the southern coast of Guangdong.

The industrial park will be dedicated to manufacturing port and marine engineering facilities with a total annual production value of 30 billion yuan, according to Liang Wengen, founder of the company.

Liang said that Sany will strive to make the park into a global center for research and development as well as manufacturing in five years.

Established in 1989 and headquartered in Hunan province, central China, Sany has grown into a global corporation with five domestic manufacturing bases and 21 overseas subsidiaries. It also has manufacturing bases in India, the United States, Germany and Brazil.

The private firm has approximately 70,000 employees worldwide.