Guangzhou Auto, Fiat to sign factory deal

By Shi Jierui

Guangzhou Automobile Industry Group will sign a strategic alliance with Fiat SpA in Rome later today.

Italian carmaker Fiat will build an assembly facility with Guangzhou Auto in China in 2010.

At the end of last month, Fiat Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said the group was close to a agreeing on a joint venture with the Guangzhou group.

Guangzhou Auto's secretary to the General Manager Bao Yingying refused to comment on the issue.

The signing ceremony will be in Italy, where Marchionne and heads of the Chinese company, including Zhang Fangyou the CEO of Guangzhou Auto will be present. Chinese President Hu Jintao and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi are expected to be present, Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper said.