Chinese company MengTai Group is set to build a whisky distillery in Inner Mongolia through collaboration with suppliers in Scotland.

The £3m ($3.85m) distillery will be designed and built by Valentine International owner David Valentine on behalf of MengTai in Ordos city, as part of a contract.

MengTai chairman Ao FengTing said: “My ambition is not just to produce China’s best quality whisky but one that is globally recognised in terms of world rankings.

“Scotland is the ‘home of whisky’ and has the greatest expertise in terms of distillery equipment manufacture and know-how. So, we are confident that Valentine International will deliver a world-beating project for us in Ordos.’’

David Valentine said that two other Scottish whisky equipment companies are in the final stages to join the distillery project.

The Scottish Chambers of Commerce (SCC) welcomed MengTai’s decision to build a distillery in Inner Mongolia.

Scottish Chambers of Commerce chief executive Dr Liz Cameron said: “This is great news for Scotland and an early win for our new International Trade Partnership programme which our Network operates in partnership with the Scottish Government.

“These opportunities were identified as a direct result of SCC hosting a business group in Scotland from the Government of Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region.

“This deal creates a significant opportunity for Scottish supplier’s worth over £3m. We are confident of more investors coming to Scotland as a result.”

The deal comes after SCC, through a series of events, welcomed business groups from Inner Mongolia to Scotland, under the SCC Network’s International Trade Partnership.