BEIJING, April 25 (Reuters) - Mercedes Benz's

China chief said on Thursday the company would continue to

invest in tie-ups with Chinese partners like internet firm Baidu ( BIDU )

, noting China was crucial to its global strategy.

China was "the most dynamic new energy vehicle market",

Hubertus Troska said at a press conference on the opening day of

the Beijing autoshow that was also attended by Baidu ( BIDU ) CEO Robin

Li.

Mercedes sales chief, Duan Jianjun, told the same event that

they had brought a number of electric models to the show and

that the German automaker hoped this would put to rest "rumours"

that the company had given up on electrification.

The executives also said Mercedes would launch the electric

G-class in China this year.

In February, Mercedes pushed back some of its sales goals

for electrified vehicles by five years and assured investors it

would keep sprucing up its combustion-engine models.

It is among foreign automakers scrambling to reset their

strategies in the world's auto market as local rivals

aggressively roll out new mass-market and luxury EVs at a fast

pace. In the first quarter, Mercedes' first-quarter sales in

China fell 12%.