Jaguar Land Rover has won a ￡600m order to supply 13,000 vehicles to China, in a rare piece of good news for the beleaguered automotive industry.

The luxury carmaker, which is owned by Tata of India has been seeking loans or loan guarantees thought to exceed ￡500m ($714m) from the government, so far without success. The company has been hit by a sharp fall in sales as a result of the world recession.

The government has urged the company to get support from its Indian parent.

The large Chinese order was unveiled at a meeting in London between Lord Mandelson, business secretary, and Chen Deming, Chinese commerce minister. They announced a trade package which also included an ￡800m order for Rolls-Royce to supply aircraft engines to Hong Kong Airlines.

The Chinese business SCAS Investment Group has signed a memorandum of understanding to buy 10,000 Land Rovers and 3,000 Jaguars over three years.

JLR said: “This shows an immediate commitment in us from them and gives us a solid base to build up our business in China. The initiative came from the Chinese government, which pulled together this trade package.”

Most of the vehicles will be sold to private individuals by dealerships across China. JLR has found an enthusiastic market for its products in China’s fledgling entrepreneurial elite. The company said: “This has been a fast-growing market for us, becoming our fifth biggest in three years, starting from almost nothing.”

JLR sold about 13,000 vehicles in China last year, so the order would not be remarkable outside a time of recession. What is probably more important is the assumption of the Chinese that the company will still be in business in three years’ time.

Lord Mandelson said in a speech that the UK should be able to meet its goal of increasing exports to China to ￡10bn a year by 2010 even in a recession. The UK is the largest European investor in China.

Mr Chen said: “We clearly see we should make our import-export trade more balanced. Only by working together can countries work out of this economic low.”

According to some economists, recovery from world recession will require emerging economies such as China to sharply reduce their exports of manufactured goods and developed countries such as the UK to significantly increase theirs.