General Motorshas formed a 50-50 joint venture with FAW Group to make light trucks in China for the first time – in a further sign of the US vehicle maker's increased focus on the Chinese market in the face of weak US sales.

Total investment in the joint venture with the Chinese vehicle maker will be Rmb2bn ($293m), GM said yesterday, under a deal that the two companies have been negotiating for several years.

The partnership with FAW, called FAW-GM Light Duty Commercial Vehicle Co, will be GM's third joint venture with a local vehicle maker but the first to produce trucks. GM's other Chinese joint ventures produce passenger cars and mini commercial vehicles. GM passenger car sales in China rose 52 per cent year-on-year in July, traditionally a weak month, according to figures from JD Power, the car consultancy.