Yang made the remarks in his blog published at Sina.com, a Beijing-based news Web site, in response to a Swedish newspaper report saying Geely is likely to participate in Saab's revamp.

But he confirmed that the Swedish court overseeing Saab's restructuring has entrusted a third party to contact Geely with the hope that the Chinese company could aid Saab's restructuring.

Geely's executives indeed met the third party's representative and learned from him about Saab's restructuring plan, Yang said in the blog.

But all this was done out of courtesy, he added.

Yang made his comments after a Saab spokesman said companies were "showing interest" in partnering with the Swedish carmaker.

"Several companies are showing interest in Saab right now," spokesman Eric Geers said by telephone. "We of course have a binding agreement with Pang Da and Youngman."

Saab expects Chinese authorities to make a ruling on the proposed partnerships with Pangda Automobile Trade Co. and Zhejiang Youngman on Oct. 14, Geers said.

Saab, which General Motors sold last year, is undergoing a financial reorganization in Sweden after first halting production in late March because suppliers stopped delivering parts. Assembly at the main factory in Trollhaettan has been quiet since early June. In August, the carmaker delayed paying wages for the third consecutive month.

Geely, a private company headquartered in the east China city of Hangzhou, acquired Volvo Car Corp. from Ford Motor Co. in 2010.