China's Geely Holding Group said Friday it was having a "detailed and in-depth" discussion with Ford on acquiring Volvo and the negotiation over relevant terms and contracts was going smoothly.

"Both sides reached agreement over the issue of intellectual property rights (IPRs) involved in the acquisition," said Geely's spokesman Yuan Xiaolin.

Yuan said it was agreed that the Swedish company would retain ownership of its key technologies and IPRs after a sale by Ford, and the Chinese carmaker would obtain the ownership of Volvo's key technologies and IPRs through acquiring Volvo.

Yuan said Ford confirmed it had picked Geely as the preferred bidder for the U.S. company's Volvo Unit on October 28.

Ford put Volvo on sale in December and Geely offered to buy 100 percent of Volvo.