Geely not to sign Volvo deal by Chinese New Year

Geely Holding (Group) Co.'s CEO Yang Jian denies the rumor about the company will sign a deal on the sale of the Ford Motor's Volvo unit by the start of the Chinese New Year on February 14.

Yan Jian said it has not been determined whether the deal could be reached by the end of February.

Yuan Xiaolin, the Geely spokesman for its Volvo acquisition project, expects the deal to be signed by March 31 and completed by June 30.

Negotiations have snagged on financing and details in the signing documents, Bloomberg reported.

Geely sold 43,877 vehicles in January, up 137 percent from a year earlier. Sales rose 1 percent compared with December, 2009, the company said in a statement yesterday.

The sales growth reflects the increased competitiveness of the group's products in China and the encouraging market response to its new models, according to the statement.

Agencies and Shi Jierui contributed to this story