China’s Dongfeng reported a better-than-expected 16 percent rise in 2013 profit due to a rebound in sales at its Japanese partners.

The country’s second-biggest carmaker, which on Wednesday agreed to buy a stake in struggling French partner PSA/Peugeot-Citroen, said net profit was 10.53 billion yuan ($1.70 billion), according to a statement through the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. That beat a forecast of 10.24 billion yuan from 28 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.