General Motors Corp. (NYSE: GM) is now making vehicle engines in a new Chinese plant right next to a new miniature vehicle joint venture -- China's SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co. -- and the world's second-largest automaker says the new engine plant will have an annual capacity of 300,000 engines per year.

Is this a signal of GM's increasing interest in supplying Pacific Rim countries with smaller cars with very gas-efficient engines? You bet it is, and right off the bat the engines from the new plant will power a new minivan model (the Wuling Hong Tu) that will initially be sold in China, where a growing middle class is increasingly able to afford vehicles.

In fact, I would venture to guess that this three-way partnership, in which GM owns 34%, is a testing of the waters by the automaker in preparation of entering into the potentially huge market for Chinese consumer vehicle consumption. Sales in the U.S. grew for the automaker in its latest quarter, but future growth won't be from the North American market most likely. With the SAIC-GM-Wuling conglomerate having sold over 460,000 vehicles (classified as "mini-vehicles") in China last year, it's poised to exceed that annual figure by 25% or so this year. In 2008, the ceiling may be even higher.