French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen said yesterday that its joint venture with China's Dongfeng Motor Group Co Ltd returned to profitability last year after two years of losses.

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The company said in its report on 2006 results that the venture, based in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, made 84 million euros in operating profit, compared with an operating loss of 54 million euros in 2005.

According to figures provided by the French carmaker in 2005, the venture's 2004 operating losses amounted to almost 100 million euros.

Liu Weidong, president of the company, told China Daily yesterday that it earned 500 million yuan in net profit last year.

The financial turnaround came after strong sales growth and cost-cutting efforts. It sold 202,500 vehicles last year, a 43.7 percent increase from 2005, the report said.

The joint venture said previously that it cut costs by 1 billion yuan last year through using more locally made spare parts and cutting inventories.

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