Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping praised the partnership with GM and China yesterday, congratulating the auto company for returning to its position as the number one automaker in the world in 2011.
"Here I wish to congratulate General Motors for becoming world champion in car sales last year," Jinping said, hailing cooperation between the Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) and GM.
"For two consecutive years, GM sales in China has exceeded its sales in the States," he added.
General Motors sold 2,547,171 vehicles in China in 2011 - a record year for the company - and 2,503,820 vehicles in the United States in 2011.
Jinping met with Vice President Joe Biden and the U.S.-China Business Council yesteday in Washington, D.C.
The Chinese government announced yesterday that the automaker would get approval to build a $1.1 billion manufacturing factory in China which will have annual production capacity of 300,000 vehicles.
In December 2009, GM sold $84.5 million worth of shares to the SAIC giving them control of 51 percent in their joint venture in China.
