Beiqi Foton Motor Co plans to issue as much as 1 billion yuan (US$146.4 million) of five-year fixed-rate bonds.

The nation's leading commercial vehicle maker said 400 million yuan from the bond sale would be used to pay bank loans and the rest spent on increasing working capital and improving its financial structure.

The bond sale is still subject to approval from shareholders at a meeting scheduled on November 28.

State-owned Beiqi Foton, which has been diversifying to cars from light commercial vehicles, signed a letter of intent with Daimler AG to form a joint venture to make medium and heavy-duty trucks in China in August.