The first Chinese cars to be manufactured in Venezuela rolled off the factory line on Wednesday.

Chery Automobile Co Ltd, the makers of the A1 and A3, is the first Chinese automaker to receive approval to assemble cars in Venezuela.

Zhou Biren, vice-president of Chery speaks at the ceremony. [Provided to China Daily]

Chery entered the South American country in May 2006 and soon gained popularity from consumers for its design and prices.

In one year, the company sold 3,500 units. Sales numbers continued to climb. Restricted by the country's import quota, Chery was not able to aggressively expand in Venezuela.

"The demands are far more than the amount we can supply through exporting," said Zhou Biren, vice-president of Chery. "By opening factories and producing cars locally, we can bypass the quota and gain more market shares."

Chery sold 700,000 cars worldwide in 2010, 20 percent of which are sold overseas. During the first seven months of this year, Chery exported 88,835 cars, an increase of 90 percent year-on-year.