Moet Hennessy, the wine and spirits unit of French luxury group LVMH, said on Thursday it will start producing red wine in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan, with bottling beginning in four to five years' time.

Moet and VATS, a Chinese vintner, have agreed to work together on a plot of land that covers around 30 hectares (74 acres), a statement said.

"It is the first time that LVMH is launching the production of red wine in China," a spokesman told AFP. The investment will compliment a project announced in May 2011 to make white wine in northwestern China.

The latest plan should "allow us to offer a high-quality red wine to Chinese consumers in four to five years," the statement quoted Moet Hennessy president Christophe Navarre as saying.

LVMH already owns Wenjun, a well-known brand of Chinese spirits.