Volkswagen AG said Friday it is to acquire a 50 percent stake of its partner JAC Motor's parent Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Holding, a move that will make the German carmaker a majority stakeholder in its joint venture JAC-Volkswagen.

Volkswagen said the deal, which is worth around 1 billion euros, will be finished before the end of this year.

The deal will see Volkswagen increase its stake in JAC-Volkswagen to 75 percent. It will introduce products under its mainstream brands into the partnership and expand its production capacity to 350,000 to 400,000 units a year by 2029.

Volkswagen plans to sell 1.5 million new energy vehicles in China a year by 2025. Besides JAC, it also has partnerships with FAW Group and SAIC Motor.

Volkswagen is investing 1.1 billion euros to become the largest shareholder of China's battery maker Guoxuan High-tech Co.

Cui Dongshu, secretary-general of the China Passenger Car Association, said Volkswagen's interests in China show the potential of the country's car market and the deals are a sign of China's growing openness to the outside world.

In October 2018, BMW inked a deal with its partner Brilliance Auto to become the first international carmaker to acquire a majority stake in its Chinese car-making joint venture.

BMW's move came after China's decision in the same year to gradually open up the automotive industry.