Aiming to raise its profile in the growing Chinese market, Hewlett-Packard said that it will open a second manufacturing plant in that country, to be located in the west China city of Chongqing.

The Palo Alto company said the new factory will make notebook and desktop personal computers for sale in China. HP is the world's largest PC maker and ranks second in sales of PCs inside China, behind Chinese manufacturer Lenovo.

HP already has manufacturing operations in the coastal city of Shanghai, where the company makes desktop computers, workstations, printers and other products. In 2004, HP opened a China Development Center in Shanghai as part of an initiative to design products specifically for the Chinese market. It also contracts with other companies around the world to manufacture products under the HP brand.

PC sales across the Asia-Pacific region grew by 13 percent in the second quarter, over the same period last year, according to market research firm IDC. In the same period, sales in the United States grew only 4 percent.

HP sold about 1.2 million PCs in China in the second quarter of 2008, IDC reported. Lenovo sold about 2.9 million. Texas computer maker Dell was in third place, selling about 928,000 PCs in China during the second quarter, but its sales grew the most, more than 50 percent over the same period in 2007.

HP said the Chongqing factory will be 215,000 square feet and is scheduled to begin operating in 2010.