China’s biggest rail manufacturing company is setting its sights on the United States. It broke ground on Thursday for a $60 million plant in Springfield, Mass., that will assemble new cars for Boston’s subway system.

The state-owned company, the China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation, or CRRC, is the first Chinese rail car manufacturer to win a major transit contract in the United States.

The Springfield plant, which will hire 150 people, is part of a $566 million contract that the company won last year to provide 284 cars for the Boston transit system’s Orange and Red Lines.

The company sees the plant as a potential beachhead to win more contracts in the United States, and the deal represents China’s biggest push in the American railroad market. It is part of the Chinese government’s policy to encourage its technology and infrastructure companies to export their skills and seek foreign markets.