The government has signed a deal with a Chinese company, Tong Jian Investment, to build a vehicle-assembly plant in the country. Under the agreement the proposed plant would be located in an industrial area of Maputo and will possibly create as many as 3,000 jobs if the investment is fully realised. The scheme envisages production of 10,000 vehicles per year-rising to 30,000-50,000 per year-with over 70% being exported to the Southern African region.

However, the plan faces serious hurdles, including local-content requirements under the rules of origin provisions of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) free-trade agreement in order to qualify for duty-free entry to the market. The Mozambican authorities will also have to satisfy the concerns of South Africa's Department of Trade and Industry, and the country's powerful automotive industry, which could lose out from the extra competition. Other challenges are that Tong Jian Investment is not primarily an automotive manufacturer but rather a construction and engineering company. The firm describes itself as "mainly" targeting investment in African countries with which it has "friendly" relations. The proposed deal follows from the signing of a multi-billion-dollar bilateral investment agreement by China and Mozambique in 2010 (October 2010, Economic performance).