AstraZeneca announced Monday an investment of $200 million for a new manufacturing plant in China in an effort "to meet the growing demand for its products" in the country.

Mark Mallon, the company's president in China, remarked that "AstraZeneca has been putting down deep and broad roots in China for many years," adding that the new facility will help the drugmaker "reach out to more of the estimated 900 million people in urban and rural communities who have had less access to high quality medicines.”

AstraZeneca noted that the facility represents its "largest ever investment in a single manufacturing facility globally," and will produce both intravenous and oral solid medicines for its business in the country.

The plant, which will be located in China Medical City, Taizhou, Jiangsu province, is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.

Last year, AstraZeneca recorded sales of more than $1 billion in China.