A US government panel has approved the purchase by China's biggest auto parts maker, Wanxiang Group, of nearly all the assets of A123 Systems Inc, a Massachusetts-based maker of electric-car batteries that declared bankruptcy last year.

Ni Pin, president of the Chinese company's US subsidiary, Wanxiang America, said company lawyers were working on final details of the $257 million deal at a court-supervised bankruptcy auction in December.

Regarding the decision by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, or CFIUS, Ni said in an interview: "Symbolically, it is a sign of how the US government deals with foreign investment." Wanxiang America on Tuesday announced the committee's decision.