THE Chancellor is to make a personal plea to MG Rover’s would-be Chinese partner to complete the deal intended to safeguard the future of the carmaker’s Longbridge factory.

Gordon Brown plans to meet senior executives of Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) next week when he makes a four-day visit to China. His appeal, which is also likely to be made to Chinese government officials, will be the most prominent face-to-face appeal by a British minister for conclusion of the long joint-venture negotiations. The Prime Minister has sent a letter urging a successful outcome and John Prescott has also made a personal plea in a visit to China.

Ministers are anxious for a speedy conclusion to the talks, which began last summer, to end the uncertainty surrounding MG Rover ahead of an expected general election in the spring.

SAIC broke its long-running silence this month to say that it expected a deal to be finalised. However, the structure of the joint venture is uncertain and there are fears that job losses could follow because of a merger and MG Rover’s continuing poor sales in the UK.

Concern has been rising about the weakness of MG Rover’s cash position as a result of weak sales. SAIC said recently that it expected a deal to be concluded within “the necessary timeframe to protect the Rover group”.

John Towers, the MG Rover chairman, met union leaders yesterday to try to reassure them about the future of the business.

BMW is today expected to declare an investment of more than £100 million in its plant at Oxford, which makes the Mini. The moves comes after higher than expected demand for the Mini.

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