China's largest auto parts maker won U.S. government approval to buy bankrupt A123 Systems Inc., a maker of electric car batteries, despite warnings by some lawmakers that the deal would transfer sensitive technology developed with U.S. government money, Reuters reported yesterday. The sale of the lithium-ion battery maker to a U.S. unit of Wanxiang Group was approved by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a government body led by the Treasury secretary. Last month, Wanxiang's U.S. unit agreed to pay $257 million for A123's automotive battery business and related assets in a bankruptcy auction, beating U.S. rival Johnson Controls Inc. of Milwaukee.
