Tengzhong signed a tentative agreement with General Motors on acquiring the Hummer brand on June 1.

 

“We have already got in touch with the relevant government departments (for approval of the deal) and will keep in touch with them,” says Zhao Xiaolu, Brunswick Group LLC’s spokesperson in Beijing, speaking on behalf of Tengzhong.

 

Brunswick is Tengzhong’s public relations agency.

 

Zhao declined to tell how much progress Tengzhong has made towards clearing the deal in China.

 

At a press conference in Beijing on July 2, Chen Jian, Vice Minister of Commerce, said his ministry hadn’t received any report from Tengzhong regarding the Hummer deal.

 

Under the existing laws in China, an overseas acquisition made by a domestic company needs to be approved by Ministry of Commerce if the deal size reaches $100 million. If the deal involves less than that figure, it needs to be endorsed by provincial governments.

 

In addition, any company seeking to build new auto manufacturing capacity in China have to apply for the approval of the National Development and Reform Commission, the central economic planning agency.

 

In late June domestic Chinese media such as China National Radio widely reported that the Chinese government may well reject the deal.

 

But Tengzhong said that is not the case. “The recent reports about Chinese disapproval of the Hummer transaction are untrue. We continue to work with the appropriate Chinese regulatory agencies in an orderly process,” it said last week in a statement.