General Motors Corp yesterday announced its sales in China soared 67 percent in 2009 and a senior official of the car maker is confident this year "will even be stronger" in a sign of the vital role the fast growing emerging markets play as it drives to turn itself around.

Sales of the United States car maker rose to a record 1.83 million vehicles in China last year, driven by strong growth in sales of Buick and Chevrolet models as well as the Wuling minivan brand, GM said in a statement yesterday.

GM, the largest international auto maker in China, said robust sales helped lift its market share in the country by 1.3 percentage points to 13.4 percent last year.

Fast growing auto demand in emerging countries such as China and India is becoming more important for Detroit-based GM, which is eliminating brands and plants in the US and Europe because of the global financial crisis. GM forecast the Chinese market to grow 10 to 15 percent this year.

"Despite the sales record in 2009, it looks as if 2010 will be even stronger," said Kevin Wale, president and managing director of the GM China Group, in the statement.

"The industry outlook is strong and we expect more growth, albeit on a somewhat slower pace," Wale said.

GM's flagship passenger car venture, Shanghai GM, reported a 63.3 percent sales increase to 727,620 units in 2009 while SAIC-GM-Wuling, the largest minivan maker in China, sold 63.9 percent more vans to exceed 1 million units.

GM, which aims to double sales in China to 2 million units by 2014, has been actively forging comprehensive cooperation with Chinese partners last year in an attempt to offset the dismal US auto market.

"Chinese companies are well positioned financially compared with capital-stressed GM," said Tan Jijia, an analyst at Pacific Securities Co. "Considering the market potential and all the resources, China is becoming more strategically important."

In mid-2009, GM formed a venture with FAW to tap the light commercial vehicle segment. At the end of last year, it also tied up with SAIC Motor, the largest auto maker in China, to jointly develop emerging markets in Asia.

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