Geely Buys Stake in Volvo Trucks, Despite China Restrictions
Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, the Chinese company that bought Volvo Cars in 2010, said on Wednesday
that it would acquire an 8.2 percent stake in AB Volvo, a Swedish manufacturer of trucks, from the activist investment firm Cevian Capital.
In a statement on Tuesday, the National Development and Reform Commission, the Chinese government agency
that oversees economic planning, said the country’s companies would have to report all foreign investment deals through a new online system.
It said it would establish a mechanism to supervise overseas deals "so as to better safeguard national interests
and national security." In August, Beijing said it would forbid acquisitions in sectors ranging from entertainment and sports clubs to hotels, reiterating a warning issued late last year.
Ash Sutcliffe, a Geely spokesman, said the company was not worried about whether the new rules on outbound investment would affect the AB Volvo deal.
Chinese companies spent about $147 billion in cross-border deals this year, according to Dealogic, a data provider.
China said it would approve acquisitions by "qualified companies" and encourage deals
that supported the "One Belt, One Road" initiative, President Xi Jinping’s ambitious push to increase China’s influence through infrastructure projects across Asia, Africa and Europe.
