GM to sell auto products to China JV worth $1 bln

U.S.-headquartered General Motors Corp (GM), the world's largest automaker, will export vehicles, component kits, machinery and relevant equipment worth US$1 billion to its China joint venture (JV) Shanghai General Motors (Shanghai GM) in three years, according to the company's announcement.

GM's luxury brand Cadillac will be one of the vehicles exported, though it has already started to produce the Cadillac models in the Shanghai JV, including the SLS sedan, CTS sport sedan and Escalade SUV. Shanghai GM sold 479.427 vehicles in China in 2007, and plans to export the domestically made Cadillac SLS to the Middle East.

In the past 11 year, GM and its China JV have imported automotive products worth more than US$4.2 billion from the U.S., said Kevin Wale, the president of GM China.

China will continue to be a major factor in GM' bid to return to profit, said GM's newly appointed president and chief operating officer Fritz Henderson several days earlier at a press conference.

The deal was signed ahead of the fourth round of the Sino-US strategic economic dialogue, together with many other agreements between Chinese and U.S. companies.