BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- China's Ministry of Commerce said Thursday it approved Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co.'s purchase of Ford Motor Co.'s (F) Volvo car unit, clearing the way for a Chinese company to gain control of a major global car brand for the first time.
The Volvo deal highlights the rising international profile of increasingly powerful Chinese companies and comes after China surpassed the U.S. last year as the biggest auto market.
The deal was approved Monday and doesn't need further approval from other Chinese government agencies, an official from the commerce ministry's news department said.
Geely in March said it agreed to pay $1.8 billion for Volvo, a move that would give the company its first significant international presence.
Geely spokesman Ning Shuyong declined to comment but said the company is still making preparations for the acquisition, declining to elaborate.
Volvo is one of the most prominent foreign brands to be purchased by a Chinese company, and is the first major foreign auto maker to be acquired in full. In December, Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co. reached an agreement to acquire certain assets of General Motors Co.'s Saab unit, but another Chinese company, Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery, earlier this year abandoned a planned purchase of GM's Hummer unit after failing to gain Chinese government approval.
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