South Korea’s LG Chem said on Thursday that it plans to invest a total of 1.2 trillion won ($1.07 billion) to expand its two battery plants in China by 2020 in a bid to meet rising global demand.

Under the investment plan, LG Chem will spend 600 billion won each at an electric vehicle battery plant and a small-sized battery plant in Nanjing, the company said. Half of the fresh investment goes to an automotive battery factory, with the rest devoted to a plant for smartphone and personal computer batteries. Nanjing approved the project on Wednesday.

The move comes as the South Korean company struggles to break into China's market for electric-vehicle batteries owing to policies that favor domestic suppliers.

Last year, the South Korean battery maker announced a plan to invest about 2 trillion won to build a second electric car battery plant by 2023 in Nanjing.

SK Innovation also looks to begin construction of a U.S. battery plant soon.