(Yicai Global) May 29 -- Manufacturers in China, the world's largest producer and exporter of tires, are building factories abroad in an optimistic mindset to meet rebounding market demand.

China's rubber tire exports reached CNY12.7 billion (USD1.8 billion) in April, up nearly 22 percent from a year ago, according to customs data. Shipments totaled 730,000 metric tons, a 14 percent uptick.

Demand at home and abroad is recovering, Securities Daily reported today. Sailun Group, a Qingdao-based manufacturer, said that domestic orders are high with sufficient production capacity, and orders for semi-steel tires aboard have risen to levels seen in the first half of last year.

China is the biggest tire nation as the country's annual output makes up more than half of the global total. But lately, many firms have started building plants abroad and especially in Cambodia, the main producer of rubber for tires.

As domestic and foreign demand improve, tire companies increase supply while Cambodia is showing signs of becoming a trending destination for new plants, according to Xing Xing, director of Bestar Securities' research institute.

One of those early adopters is China's Doublestar Tire Industrial. Earlier this month, the firm started constructing its USD200 million plant in northeastern Cambodia with an annual production capacity of 8.5 million radial tires.

Moreover, Jiangsu province-based General Science Technology kicked off operations at its Cambodia factory a week ago. This makes the company one of the few Chinese tiremakers to have plants in two foreign countries, according to Chairman Gu Cu.

Thailand is also popular. Another Qingdao-headquartered firm, Sen Qilin, said that the company's new factory in the Southeast Asian country is expanding production. The project is expected to be ready by December to make as many as six million semi-steel tires and two million all-steel tires per year.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi