CATERPILLAR Inc, the world's biggest maker of earthmoving equipment, denied reports it plans to buy a stake in China's Anhui Xingma Automobile Group Co.

"There are currently no plans for Caterpillar to make such an equity investment," Xingma and the Illinois-based company said in a joint statement yesterday. Xingma, based in eastern China's Anhui Province, makes industrial vehicles such as concrete mixers and garbage trucks. Caterpillar supplies it with engines, Beijing-based Caterpillar spokesman Jim Dugan said by phone.