Mubasher: The Chinese government has announced policies that would allow foreign car companies to own more than 50% of the joint ventures (JVs) they have established in the Asian country.

This marks a major shift from China’s policies, adopted since the 1990s, and which have allowed the market to become the largest in the world.

General Motors Co. responded immediately to the news, saying: “We will continue to work with our partners to provide high-quality products and services to consumers.”

German automaker Volkswagen AG announced that the situation of its current JVs will remain unchanged, whereas rival BMW unveiled plans to expand its venture with Brilliance Auto.

While foreign carmakers may benefit from the policy change, thereby generating higher profits, the new Chinese decision would take a long time to implement, said John Hoffecker, vice chairman of consulting firm AlixPartners.

Meanwhile, Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting with researcher LMC Automotive, said he did not expect foreign firms to “unwind their joint ventures and just go it alone.”

He went on to say that “To unwind all those [joint ventures] would be a lot of work and is probably not the right message to your local partner.”

The move would also give foreign car manufacturers “leverage of having more control over future decisions…over partnerships,” Schuster added.