Chinese carmaker Geely has told AM it will press ahead with the acquisition of Volvo by September having secured competition approval for the deal from the European Commission.

It green-lighted the purchase of Volvo Cars by Geely Holding Group and publicly owned investment firm Daqing, owned by the Daqing city government in north-east China’s Heilongjiang Province.

Following a one-month inquiry, the Commission concluded the acquisition would not "significantly impede effective competition" in Europe, and imposed no conditions.

Brussels noted Geely sells few passenger cars in Europe and Volvo Cars has a limited component business, so crossovers are few.

Geely spokesman Ning Shuyong said: “We are pleased to see the progress and we are planning to close the deal by September 2010.”

He added Geely's current focus is closing the deal instead of making plans for Volvo’s future European business.

“Before the completion, Volvo Cars is still part of the Ford Motor Company,” he said.

Geely, a privately-owned auto company based in Hangzhou, spent about USD2.7 billion on the deal, with around USD 800 million coming from the Daqing.

Chinese local media has reported the Daqing investment indicates the future location of a Chinese Volvo plant, but Geely has not chosen a location and is waiting for government approval to manufacture Volvo cars in China.