Chinese oil giant PetroChina has said it would "welcome" closer ties with BP as the British energy group battles to contain the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, a report said Monday.

Mao Zefeng, head of investor relations at PetroChina, told the Financial Times that the company's first reaction to BP's problems in the Gulf of Mexico was to see how it could "help BP to quickly fix the problem".

"We contacted them to see if there is anything we can help with in terms of engineering or technical help," Mao said.

The official declined to discuss possible financial assistance, saying: "We have no comment on market rumours. But if there was some opportunity to work more closely together, we would welcome that."

Mao and other officials at PetroChina were not immediately available to comment on the report.

Chinese energy companies have this year invested billions of dollars on overseas acquisitions, including a deal by China's top refiner Sinopec in April to acquire a stake in a Canadian oil sands project for 4.65 billion dollars.

PetroChina -- which is listed in New York, Hong Kong and Shanghai -- said in May that it would invest 60 billion dollars abroad over the next decade in order to secure much-needed resources to fuel China's red-hot economy.

BP acquired a stake in PetroChina when it went public in 2000. In 2004, it sold those shares, which at the time accounted for a two percent equity stake, according to statements from the two companies.

The two firms have a joint venture to operate petrol stations in the southern province of Guangdong.

The Financial Times said PetroChina was unlikely to make a full bid for BP due to political considerations but could invest in further joint ventures.

earlier related report
Honda's China sales down 2.7 percent in June
Beijing (AFP) July 12, 2010 - Japan's number two automaker Honda Motor Co., which has seen its China operations crippled in recent weeks by work stoppages over pay, said Monday its sales had fallen 2.7 percent year-on-year in June.

Honda and its joint venture partners sold 50,113 units, down from 51,497 in the same month a year earlier, it said.

The decline marked an improvement on the 7.2 percent fall in Honda's China sales in June 2008.

But the Japanese company lags far behind China's overall auto industry, which saw vehicle sales rise 23.5 percent last month from a year earlier to 1.41 million units.

The Japanese auto giant was one of several foreign companies hit by industrial action in China over the past two months as increasingly frustrated workers expressed their discontent at low pay and poor conditions.

Strikes at several parts suppliers halted production at its Chinese assembly lines. Honda agreed to a 24 percent pay rise for workers at its main parts factory in the southern province of Guangdong.