Volkswagen AG expects its China sales may rise in line with the overall auto market this year, as it explores potential cooperation with domestic firm JAC Motors in what could be a third partnership with Chinese automakers.

The head of the Germany-based company's China business, Jochem Heizmann, told reporters in Beijing that he expected China's total passenger car market will expand in line with, or perhaps even exceed, GDP growth.

"If we look to the general growth situation, it's still tremendous, big growth," Heizmann said, adding that there is potential for expansion in China's lower-tier cities despite the country's economy registering its weakest growth in one-quarter century.

"These are still cities with millions of inhabitants but in a different development stage," Heizmann said. The executive said VW will stick to existing investment plans for China, investing more than 4 billion euros ($4.46 billion) annually for the coming years.

VW's global business has come under increased scrutiny since it admitted in September in 2015 it misled US regulators about vehicle emissions. Sales in China, a stable source of revenue for VW for years and the carmaker's biggest market, fell 3.4 percent in 2015 before rebounding in January.

US rival General Motors Co's vehicle sales in China rose 5.2 percent in 2015, allowing it to overtake VW to claim the No.1 spot in the world's largest car market.

While confident in VW's existing operations in China, including two tie-ups with domestic automakers, Heizmann said VW is in early talks with JAC Motors about the potential for cooperation.

Asked whether cooperation with JAC Motors could involve electric vehicles, actively being promoted by China's government as a solution to chronic pollution in the country's large cities, Heizmann said, "We have started talking about potential for cooperation, but there are no more detailed plans at present."

JAC Motors, based in Hefei, a city in East China's Anhui Province, is one of China's smaller automakers.