NANNING - South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region is working with a Thai company to build China's largest sugar manufacturing and food processing base, according to local authorities.

The base will be established in the city of Chongzuo, in partnership with MITR PHOL Group, a prominent sugar maker in neighboring Thailand, Jiang Liansheng, deputy secretary of the Chongzuo City Committee of the Communist Party of China, said Tuesday.

With a total investment of nearly 10 billion yuan ($1.58 billion), the first phase of the project is expected to cover 18 square km, Jiang said.

He did not reveal when the building would be finished.

Dubbed "the capital of sugar" in China, Chongzuo is responsible for about one fifth of the country's sucrose production.