Shanghai General Motors Co Ltd's (Shanghai GM) auto sales may reach 1.02 million units -- a new high -- this year, China Business News reported Monday.

Shanghai GM is a joint venture between General Motors Corp (GM) and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC).

The two companies have worked together on ten joint ventures, and SAIC invested $500 million into GM's initial public offering for one percent share in the company, the newspaper reported.

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The GM North America and the GM Europe suffered deficit in 2009, while the GM International Operations, a section consisting the rest of the world including China, is the only section that earned a profit, according to GM's unaudited third quarter financial report which were revealed on Nov 10.

GM's total auto sales in China rose 19.6 percent in October to a monthly record of 200,000 units, and the sales in the first ten months of the year grew 35.5 percent year-on-year to 1.98 million units. GM officials expected annual sales to reach 2.5 million units in the mainland, according to China Business News.

GM said it realized a net profit of $4.7 billion in its third quarter report. Those results also showed its profitability in three consecutive quarters after emergence from bankruptcy protection on July 10, 2009, the newspaper reported.

More than 50 percent of GM International Operations' total profit is contributed by China, the newspaper quoted Kevin E. Wale, GM China Group's President and managing director, as saying in an interview at the end of 2009.