INTERVIEW-UPDATE 1-Japan's Nabtesco eyes China joint ventures

* Plans 2 joint ventures for brakes and door operators

* Expects to supply parts for 2,000 railway cars in China (Adds background, details)

TOKYO, Oct 30 - Japanese precision machinery maker Nabtesco Corp, which holds the top market share in door operators for bullet trains, said it would form two joint ventures in China in 2010 to tap the country's growing investment in public transport.

Nabtesco, like European rivals Alstom SA and Siemens AG, is focusing on China as Beijing is splashing out $500 million a year on new subways, monorails and inter-city high-speed train systems.

"The key is an alliance with Chinese local manufacturers," Nabtesco director Ben Sakamoto told Reuters in an interview on Friday. "We hope that will help bolster our share of the lucrative subway system market to over 50 percent in five years."

Nabtesco, which estimates it holds 25-40 percent of China's market for brake systems for subways and inter-city railways, plans to form two 50-50 joint ventures for brake control systems and door operators later in 2010, Sakamoto said.

Nabtesco, owned more than a third by foreign investors, estimates it controls more than 90 percent of the Japanese market for door operating systems for the Shinkansen high-speed bullet trains.

Sakamoto, the head of Nabtesco's railway products company, also said the company expects to provide its brake control systems and door operators for 2,000 railway cars for China's inter-city high-speed train systems over the next few years.

That would include orders for the long-awaited Beijing-Shanghai route. China recently gave a contract to build 140 Shinkansen-type railway cars for that route to a licensee of Japan's Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd.

"We expect to supply brakes and door operators for those trains," Sakamoto said.

Nabtesco expects its railway products sales in China to grow 2.5 times in the year to March 2011 to 10 billion yen ($100 million).

Shares in Nabtesco have risen 80 percent this year, reflecting investor expectation for active investment in railway infrastructre, including in emerging markets like China and Brazil.

The stock has outperformed a 26 percent rise in the benchmark TOPIX index, making it one of the most expensive stocks in the sector in terms of the price-to-book ratio.