G.M. wants to increase its stake in the company by buying at least part of the nearly 16 percent held by the municipal government of Liuzhou, the city in southernmost China where Wuling is based, Nick Reilly, the president of G.M.’s Asian and Pacific operations, said in an interview on Monday afternoon.

Mr. Reilly said he wanted the Wuling venture to start exporting, although probably not to the United States.

Mr. Reilly’s remarks represent the first time a G.M. executive has publicly voiced an interest in an overseas acquisition since the company ran into severe financial difficulties last year and had to seek billions of dollars in help from the United States government. While an automaker is being kept in business by federal loans, any of its acquisitions in China could prove controversial in Washington.

Beyond stressing fuel efficiency, the Chinese government is emphasizing alternative-fuel vehicles, particularly electric cars with rechargeable batteries. Senior Beijing officials want the country to become a leader in such technology, and Western auto executives give China a strong chance of success.

“There’s no question that the government and the companies here are spending huge amounts in this area, so there’s no doubt they are going to be important players,” Mr. Reilly said. “If you look at where batteries are making the fastest progress, it’s China, it’s Korea, it’s where the government is heavily behind it.”

Andy Palmer, Nissan’s senior vice president for vehicle planning, said that Nissan started an electric car experiment this month in Wuhan, China, mainly because China wanted it. “We didn’t approach them, they approached us,” Mr. Palmer said.

Automakers have long built vehicles to suit American preferences and then marketed the same models around the world after recouping the development costs in the United States market. Manufacturers sharply increased their development and production of sport utility vehicles and minivans in the 1980s, for example, in large part because those vehicles were subject to less stringent fuel economy regulations in the United States; the automakers then marketed the same models around the globe.

In addition to better fuel economy, the rapidly rising importance of the Chinese market will probably result in much more comfortable rear seats in cars around the world. That is because even the owners of compact cars in China frequently hire full-time chauffeurs, who cost as little as $440 a month and allow the owner to read or make phone calls in the back seat while in traffic jams.