Changan Auto set to merge AVIC auto operations

Shanghai, November 5 (Gasgoo.com) Changan Automobile (Group) Co., Ltd. is set to announce on Nov. 10 its merger of the auto-making operations of Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the parent of Hafei Auto and Changhe Auto, after several months of painstaking talks, the Economic Observer reported today.

This will be possibly the first merger and restructuring of auto businesses to take place between two state-owned giant enterprises in China. A top executive of Changan Group has confirmed that the merger is "a sure thing if nothing unusual happens."

Some auto-related media agencies have received a letter of invitation today from Changan Group, which invites their reporters to attend the company's press conference in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on November 10 (Tuesday).

A senior AVIC official said in August that his company was still in talks with Changan Auto on the matter of merger, and AviChina Industry&Technology Co., Ltd., AVIC's Hong Kong-listed subsidiary, later said it would focus on aviation business and cast off all auto-making businesses by the end of this year.