More independent with brighter future after Chinese takeover

China surpasses america as volvo's biggest overseas market

This time one year ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping, accompanied by King Philippe of Belgium, unveiled together the 300, 000th car to be exported to China at the Volvo's Ghent location.

De Mey said of Xi's visit, "of course it is a great honor for Volvo as a whole, and especially for Volvo Ghent, that the Chinese president came here. It was the only plant that he visited in Belgium. That meant that Volvo cars was important to him."

"We saw the sales of Volvo in China were very strong, because China is a growing market in general," he said.

According to the sales figures of 2014, China has surpassed the United States to become the number one market for Volvo Cars Ghent:

35,669 cars, or 13.5 percent of production, were destined for export to China.

The United States, the top market for Volvo Cars Ghent for years, now clocks out at 23,992 cars (9.0 percent).

One of the company's strategies was to expand its presence in the Chinese market, according to De Mey.

The Ghent plant is Volvo's largest automobile assembly plant outside Sweden, employing over 5,000 people.