When Herbert Austin first set eyes on Longbridge 100 years ago, China's Boxer rebellion - when the dowager empress Tsu Hsi encouraged protests against growing foreign influence in the country - was still fresh in the public mind.

Nobody would have thought that a century later, two state-owned Chinese carmakers would have been battling over the remains of Austin's legacy to the UK car industry to further their own global ambitions.

For Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation and Nanjing Automobile, the strategy behind their interest in MG Rover was the same. Both build cars through joint ventures - SAIC with General Motors and Volkswagen, Nanjing with Fiat. Each harbours a dream of independence, producing cars for which they own the technology, not just the manufacturing capability. If they are to be global players they must have their own cars.

The battle came to an acrimonious conclusion on Friday when administrators PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) sold the assets of MG Rover and its sister firm, the engine and transmissions maker Powertrain, to Nanjing.

PwC argued Nanjing offered the top bid, about £53m, which was unconditional. SAIC's offer was lower and came with strings. SAIC begs to differ and may challenge the bid process or invoke its ownership of some MG Rover intellectual property rights to make life difficult for Nanjing. For the moment, however, Nanjing is in the driving seat. It may be China's oldest carmaker but it is far from its biggest. It employs 14,600 and has the capacity to build 180,000 vehicles a year, with plans to raise that to 300,000 by 2007.

That total, however, represents a range of vehicles, including vans, buses and trucks. Its plans for MG Rover's assets would increase Chinese output by another 200,000 - enough, perhaps, to justify a volume manufacturer tag, but only just.

Nanjing plans to remove the Longbridge production lines that made the MG Rover 25, 45 and 75 models, as well as the engine-making equipment. It will make the 25 and 75 in China alongside the replacement for the 45, on which MG Rover had started development work.

But where does that leave the UK end of the business - Longbridge and the 6,000 workers who lost their jobs? Nanjing says it plans to develop a five-strong family of niche cars in the UK under the MG brand. First off the line would be the existing TF sports car and then, perhaps, the upmarket MG ZT.

Nanjing's business plan envisages UK output of between 80,000 and 120,000 vehicles a year when the family is complete. Manufacturing would be complemented by a research and development facility with the two activities employing up to 2,000 people - at some point. Quite when is not clear.

On some counts, production of the MG TF might be 18 months away and the wider development of MG much further down the line. That's a long time for redundant workers to wait to get back into the industry.

In addition to the timescale there are other uncertainties. Nanjing needs a UK management and UK partners. It has already teamed up with engineering consultancy Arup and the search is on for more, with some of the previous bidders for the sports car line tipped as possibilities. It also needs a manufacturing base, possibly not Longbridge.

So far Nanjing has been careful not to commit itself either way. Given the size of the Longbridge plant and uncertainty about its availability - it is owned by St Modwen, the property investor - it may be the Chinese group might prefer a much smaller greenfield site without the burden of history that Longbridge represents. The car plant is much more likely to end up with a technology park, distribution, some manufacturing - which may or may not include MG - retail and housing.

Critics argue the Nanjing deal means an opportunity had been missed to restore volume car manufacturing to Longbridge. It should be remembered, however, that MG Rover in 2004 produced little more than 100,000 vehicles. Arguably, its central problem was that the British manufacturer was making niche numbers but on a cost base that would have supported a volume operation.

Nanjing is not going to fall into the same trap. Rather the reverse. It is hoping to use the low-cost components from its volume operation in China in its British business. A successful UK operation from which it could sell into Europe - even on a small scale - would give it a platform that would fit its global aspirations. It would be foolish, however, to assume the UK will become central to Nanjing's strategy. China will be its core market and its core manufacturing base.

One hundred years ago the Boxer rebels found it hard to keep the world out. Nanjing will find it hard to break in.