China's Geely will explore the possibility of deeper cooperation with German luxury automaker Daimler AG, its Chairman Li Shufu said on Friday.

Geely built a 9.69% stake in Stuttgart-based Daimler in 2018. The two companies formed a China-based venture to build electric Smart cars and a separate premium ride-hailing venture. They also invested in Volocopter, a flying taxi company.

Geely would also "launch several new products and services to our markets around the world" this year, Li said in a statement to Reuters. Geely plans to roll out Lynk & Co cars in Europe this year.

Li also said Chinese auto market is returning to normal and global auto supply chain disruption is "temporary and manageable."

(Reporting by Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh; Editing by Edmund Blair)