The logo of Celltrion is seen at company's headquarters in Incheon, South Korea, October 28, 2016. Picture taken on October 28, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean drugmaker Celltrion Inc 068270.KS aims to set up a joint venture in China within the first half of this year, and begin selling products in the country next year, its chairman said on Sunday.

“Since last year, we’ve been pushing on with a plan to set up a joint venture in China,” Chairman Seo Jung Jin told reporters. The firm has been in talks with several Chinese companies, he said, declining to elaborate.

Celltrion sells drugs known as biosimilars, mainly to Europe and the United States.

It is South Korea's third-largest company by market value, after Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 005930.KS and chipmaker SK Hynix Inc 000660.KS, according to the Korea Stock Exchange.

On Friday, it said it would build a third domestic plant and is continuing to review potential manufacturing sites overseas.