Carlyle-Xugong deal to be approved this yr-exec

SHANGHAI, Nov 21 (Reuters) The chairman of Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group said on Tuesday he was confident that Carlyle Group would win Chinese government approval this year to buy 50 percent of Xuzhou's unit Xugong Group Construction Machinery Co.

''I'm confident the case will be approved before the end of the year. It's just a matter of procedure,'' Wang Min told Reuters on the sidelines of an industry conference.

US investment firm Carlyle has been trying to obtain permission to buy a major stake in Xugong, China's biggest machinery maker, for over a year.

REUTERS DKS BST0815