State-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC) has signed a joint venture deal worth around $9 billion to build an oil refinery and petrochemical plant in southern China, Kuwait's state news agency said on Wednesday.

KPC and Sinopec, China's biggest refiner, are equal partners in the project, said the Kuna report.

Earlier this month, China approved the $9 billion joint venture, which will be built in the southern coastal city of Zhanjiang.

The project will secure Kuwait, the world's fourth-largest crude exporter, a solid outlet for its oil, ahead of competitors such as Venezuela, Russia and Qatar, all of which are planning refineries in China.

Kuwait aims to more than double its crude exports to China to 500,000 barrels per day (bpd), versus last year's sales at just under 200,000 bpd.

KPC in 2009 briefly tapped potential investors Shell and Dow Chemical, but the companies did not make any commitment for a consortium.-Reuters