German carmaker Volkswagen will build two new plants in China as part of a 1.6 billion euro ($2.15 billion) expansion plan to capture growth in the world's most dynamic auto market.

Europe's biggest automaker reiterated its long-term goal to sell 2 million vehicles in China, already the world's biggest car market.

Growth in China has surpassed all expectations, Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn said in a statement on Monday.

Volkswagen plans to increase its investment in the Chinese market to a total of 6 billion euros.

Last week, a top manager had told Reuters the company had hiked its investment in China but declined to say by how much.

Volkswagen said that among other things it plans to use the money to build two new production sites and to launch seven new or revamped models this year in China.

China is easily on track to overtake Germany as the group's largest single market this year.

Since VW's Chinese activities are operated through two separate joint ventures with Shanghai Automotive (SAIC) and FAW Group, its earnings there are booked as a share of profit for equity-accounted investments.

(Reporting by Michael Shields and Nicola Leske)

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