General Motors may get a fourth offer for its Opel and Vauxhall operations in Europe from a Chinese carmaker.

The US car giant is selling a majority stake in its European operations while preparing for probable 1 June bankruptcy.

So far, there have been bids from Italian carmaker Fiat, the Canadian car supplier Magna International and RHJ International SA, a buyout firm.

The Chinese company, which has not been named, submitted an expression of interest yesterday, according to Bloomberg.

Although one day after the 20 May deadline for bids, it could still be considered. The auction is being watched with concern by the 5000 UK employees in plants at Ellesmere Port and Luton who fear that German jobs at the Opel division will be safe while British workers are laid off.

Some analysts are not sure a deal with a Chinese company would work. Yu Bing at Ping An Securities in Shanghai said: "Chinese carmakers aren't big or experienced enough and lack the technology and management skills to buy Opel."

The bids from Magna and RHJ include cash.

Fiat's offer needs €7 billion (£6.1billion) of financing to reorganise Opel. Its bid has two parts: either to buy the Opel and Vauxhall units or to bid for GM's units in Brazil and Argentina as well.