TOKYO, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Nintendo Co said on Wednesday it was considering starting production of its GameCube console in China this summer, joining a growing camp of Japanese companies seeking cheaper labour and operations costs.

Nintendo said the costs of production and distribution per unit are currently higher than the machine's sales price, and the firm aims to bring the business into the black quickly.

``We are discussing making GameCubes in China,'' said Nintendo spokesman Hiroshi Imanishi.

Still, Imanishi said the firm could generate profits if it reached its target of selling four million GameCubes and 10 million game software titles by the end of March.

Competition in the game console market, where Sony Corp's PlayStation 2 dominates, is expected to intensify next month when Microsoft Corp (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) plans to roll out Xbox in Japan following the U.S. launch in November.

Nintendo shares were down 2.16 percent at 19,480 yen as of 0056 GMT, while the benchmark Nikkei average dropped 0.96 percent.