Chang'an Minsheng Logistics, Chinese automaker Chang'an Motor's joint venture with local and foreign companies, is seeking a listing in the Hong Kong Stock Exchange this year, according to Chang'an President Yin Jiaxu.

The logistics firm is expected to raise 100-200 million yuan (US$12.1-24.2 million) through an initial public offering in Hong Kong later this year, Yin said.

"We mainly hope to improve Chang'an Minsheng Logistics' corporate governance through the listing," Yin told China Daily.

Chang'an Motor is the biggest shareholder in the venture with a 40 per cent stake, and the others are Minsheng Logistics, Chongqing Wanyou, and US-based APL Logistics.

The joint venture, created in 2001, now has registered capital valued at 50 million yuan (US$6 million).

The joint venture will be Chang'an Motor's second listed affiliate.

The parent firm's Chang'an Automobile Co Ltd, which began issuing A and B shares in the Shenzhen indices in 1996 and 1997, now is one of the best-performing domestic auto stocks, boosted by strong sales.

The joint venture's expected share offering is seen as Chang'an Motor's first step towards listing the entire company or Chang'an Automobile in Hong Kong to raise money for its ambitious expansion.

Chang'an Motor is one of a number of mainland automakers eyeing the Hong Kong capital market.

Dongfeng Motor Corp, based in Central China's Hubei Province, is also planning to go public in Hong Kong.

In January, Geely, a privately owned carmaker in East China's Zhejiang Province, penetrated the Hong Kong capital market by having a stake in its Hong Kong-listed partner Guorun Holdings, which has been renamed Geely Auto Holdings.

Great Wall Auto, a privately owned firm in North China's Hebei Province, started to issue stocks in Hong Kong at the end of last year.

"The Hong Kong stock market is a good platform for automakers on the mainland to woo overseas investment, and they will be attractive as domestic car demand is growing very rapidly," said Zheng Xianling, an auto analyst with China Securities Co.

Chang'an has three manufacturing bases in Chongqing, Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province and North China's Hebei Province.

The company said it has set a lofty sales target of 3 million vehicles a year by 2020, including 200,000 units for exports.

Chang'an Motor aims to increase annual sales to 1.5 million units by 2010, in which 80,000 units will be sold abroad.

It also aims to report 5 billion yuan (US$604 million) in profits in 2010.

Yin said the company expects to sell 500,000 vehicles this year, up from 410,000 units last year.

The company's profits shot up by 136 percent year-on-year to almost 1.4 billion yuan (US$169.1 million) last year.

The figure accounted for 80 percent of profits for all mini-vehicle producers in China.

"Vehicles associated with our own intellectual property and brands will continue to control at least 50 percent of our total sales," Yin said.

Chang'an Motor will introduce six of the company's own designs in vehicle platforms before 2007, he said.

It will launch a totally Chang'an-developed multi-purpose vehicle in June, he said.

"We should speed up our own development and build our own brands. This is the basis for the survival of China's auto industry (in the face of fierce competition from foreign rivals)," he said.

The automaker has invested 1.17 billion yuan (US$141.3 million) into building two automotive engineering institutes in Chongqing and Italy.

China became the world's fourth-largest auto manufacturer after the United States, Japan and Germany last year with a total vehicle output of 4.44 million units, including 2.01 million passenger cars.

However, the vast majority of passenger cars were made by joint ventures of foreign auto giants and under foreign brands, such as Germany's Volkswagen, US-based General Motors, Japan's Honda and French Citroen.

Chang'an Motor now runs two joint ventures with US-based Ford and Japan's Suzuki in Chongqing.

(China Daily March 17, 2004)