German automaker Volkswagen Chief Executive Bernd Pischetsrieder said Thursday that Volkswagen is revamping its Chinese operation to change the sliding situation.

Volkswagen is working "at high speed" to reorient its business in China, Pischetsrieder told the annual shareholders meeting in Hamburg.

Volkswagen posted first-quarter deliveries to China of 115,000 vehicles, a drop of nearly one-third, which incurred sharp criticism from Shareholders.

Pischetsrieder predicted that Volkswagen would show an even balance in its earnings sheet in 2005.

Volkswagen's profits in China fell to 222 million euros (US$289 million) in 2004 from 561 million euros (US$729 million) in 2003.

(Xinhua News Agency April 22, 2005)