South Korea’s leading tire maker Hankook Tire Co. signed a contract with China Petrochemical Corp., or Sinopec, to supply truck and bus tires for the China’s state-run oil major to sell at its gas stations, the company said Wednesday.

Sinopec sells tires for trucks and buses at more than 31,000 gas stations it operates across China. Hankook Tire and France-based Michelin were the only two foreign makers among the five companies that Sinopec awarded the orders.

Founded in 1998, Sinopec is Asia’s largest oil refining firm with assets reaching $310 billion. It ranked third in the list of the world’s top 500 companies by Fortune magazine last year.

The tire maker said that the contract has proved Hankook Tire’s outstanding expertise and product quality as the Chinese state firm chose it despite tensions between Korea and China over Seoul’s deployment of a U.S. antimissile battery. It added that the deal would help it to expand its supply in the world’s biggest Chinese market.

Hankook Tire shares closed Tuesday at 54,200 won, down 1.28 percent from the previous session.

By Kim Jung-hwan and Choi Mira

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