General Motors, the world's top car maker, plans to spend US$250 million with a local partner to expand a pivotal car design center in China and move its Asia-Pacific headquarters to Shanghai by January.

The U.S. auto giant joins multinationals such as France's Alcatel that have declared China's financial hub their regional base.

GM chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner said in a statement on Wednesday that having a strong presence in this dynamic and growing market is not an option any more, it's a necessity.

The announcement was made as overall sales in China's car market, the world's fastest-growing, are slowing as the Chinese government curbs easy lending to cool overheated parts of the economy.

Car sales in China dropped 19.4 percent in May from April, the second straight monthly decline, as efforts to put the brakes on a racing economy and restrict easy auto loans kept potential buyers at bay.

(CRI.com June 23, 2004)