New Delhi (CNN Business) Tesla's new manufacturing plant in China is officially under construction.

CEO Elon Musk broke ground on the electric carmaker's huge factory in Shanghai on Monday, kickstarting a plan to eventually make half a million vehicles in China every year.

The company is aiming to complete the initial construction work this summer and start producing its cheapest car, the Model 3, by the end of the year, Musk said in a series of tweets before the event.

The Gigafactory in Shanghai's Lingang Industrial Zone is the biggest foreign investment in manufacturing the city has ever seen, the Shanghai government said in a statement Monday. The government also reiterated Tesla's initial target to make 250,000 cars a year, eventually ramping up to 500,000. That's about five times the number of vehicles the company currently produces in the United States.

Tesla is aiming to start production at its Shanghai Gigafactory by the end of this year.

The factory, Tesla's first outside the United States, will produce "affordable versions" of the Model 3 and its yet-to-be-unveiled Model Y crossover for customers in China, Musk tweeted on Monday.