Whirlpool in venture

WHIRLPOOL Corp, a home appliance manufacturer in the United States, will invest US$29 million in its joint venture with Beijing Snowflake Electric Appliances Group, according to a report in the China Daily.

The company said the planned refrigerator and freezer plant, announced last month, would have a capacity of 500,000 refrigerators and freezers a year, the paper reported.

Chu Wah-hui, president of Whirlpool Greater China, said the refrigerator market in China was saturated, but that Whirlpool had spent two years laying out its China strategy and did not want to enter the market in a hurry earlier.