YICHANG - Paris-based cosmetics giant L'Oreal plans to expand a factory in central China's Hubei province into its largest cosmetics production base in Asia with an investment of 200 million yuan ($31.5 million), the company announced Wednesday.

Covering an area of more than 70,000 square meters, the production base, located in the city of Yichang, will be able to produce 250 million units of cosmetics annually upon being completed in early 2013, said Alexis Perakis-Valat, chief executive of L'Oreal China.

L'Oreal has 38 factories worldwide, including two in China. The other Chinese factory is in Suzhou, a city in East China's Jiangsu province.