Foxconn Group has started construction of a factory for making 3G smartphones in Mianyang, western China, on a joint venture basis with A Hong Communication & Digital Information, a subsidiary of China-based Sichuan Changhong, according to xinhuanet.com.

With investment of CNY700 million (US$111 million), the factory will have an annual capacity of 10 million smartphones, the report indicated, adding A Hong produced eight million handsets in 2010 and will become the major source of orders for the factory.