China VP to attend Geely-Volvo deal signing in Sweden

Shanghai, March 26 (Gasgoo.com) Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping, now on his tour of Europe, is due to arrive in Sweden this weekend and will attend the signing of a formal deal for Zhejiang Geely Holding Group to buy Ford Motor's Volvo car unit, Reuters reported today.

During his four-day state visit starting Saturday, Xi will meet Sweden's king and senior officials and visit the city of Gothenburg, Xinhua News reported. The signing ceremony of the Geely-Volvo deal would be held on Sunday (March 28), with Xi in attendance.

A Volvo spokesman has confirmed that preparations are underway for an announcement at the company's headquarters in Gothenburg, and a Geely representative told reporters today that his company aimed to sign the Volvo transaction agreement by the end of this month as planned.

Geely Group, parent of Hong Kong-listed Geely Auto, plans to pay up to $2 billion for Volvo and pull the Swedish carmaker out of the red by 2011 by adding a new factory in China to nearly double its annual global production, Reuters said.

China has surpassed the U.S. to become the world's largest car market and is keen to boost the technology and brand recognition. The Volvo purchase by Geely would be China's biggest ever overseas auto brand acquisition.