A driver has cheated death in China after a huge saw blade fell off a truck and cut into his car.

The man was driving down a motorway on the way to the south-western city of Chongqing on Wednesday when the freak accident happened.

He suddenly heard a loud noise from the opposite side of the road and saw a huge round object hurtling towards him over the central reservation, the People’s Daily reported.

The driver told the newspaper that he saw “white” smoke as something hit his car and he skidded for several seconds before coming to a stop.

When he got out of the vehicle, he saw the 1.5m wide saw blade embedded in its bonnet, just inches from the driver's seat.

Police who were called to the scene reportedly said he was lucky to have escaped injury and that a slight change in the saw’s course could have been fatal.

It had fallen out of a flatbed truck that crashed on the other side of the road, throwing several blades off the back.