BEIQI Foton Motor Co, China's biggest commercial-vehicle maker, won approval to form an engine venture with Cummins Inc to tap rising truck sales in the world's second-largest auto market, Bloomberg News said.

The 2.7-billion-yuan (US$359 million) venture was endorsed by the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, Foton said in a Shanghai Stock Exchange statement yesterday. The equally-owned venture will have a capacity of 400,000 engines a year, the Beijing-based company added.

China's economy grew 11.5 percent in the first half, boosting demand for trucks to haul goods across the country. The nation's overall commercial vehicle sales rose 26 percent in the period, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said.

The Beijing-based venture will make 2.8-liter and 3.8-liter engines. It may help Cummins achieve its goal of doubling China sales to US$3.3 billion by 2010. The engine maker, based in Columbus, Indiana, already has a venture in the country with Dongfeng Automobile Co, a truck maker backed by Nissan Motor Co.

DaimlerChrysler AG is set to buy a 24 percent stake in Foton, the maker of Auman heavy-duty trucks.