Dong Feng Group, one of China's three auto making giants, has announced that it had formed a joint-venture lubricant manufacturer with BP Group.

A special function was held last Wednesday to mark inauguration of the joint venture, Dongfeng-Castrol Lubricant Co. Ltd., which is based in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province. The new company has a registered capital of 120 million yuan (about 14.46 million US dollars), said sources from Dong Feng Group.

According to the agreement, BP will own 50 percent stake in the company, while Dong Feng Motor Corporation will own 20 and Dong Feng Automobile Co. Ltd. will hold the remaining 30 percent. The term of the cooperation will last 30 years. The lubricant will be sold under the "Castrol" label.

The joint venture will mainly engage in lubricant research and development, manufacturing and marketing, with an annual production capacity of 50,000 tons of lubricants.

BP is one of the world's largest oil, gas and petrochemical conglomerate with operations in more that 100 countries. The multinational has been operating in China since the early 1970s and has reportedly invested over 3 billion US dollars in commercial projects.

Source: Xinhua