UPDATE 1-GM April China sales rise 50 pct to monthly record

(Adds background, details)

SHANGHAI, May 5 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp's GM.N sales in China, its second-largest market, in April surged 50 percent from a year earlier to a monthly record, boosted by rising demand for its Buick and Wuling models.

GM, which faces the threat of bankruptcy if it cannot complete a reorganisation by a U.S. government-imposed June 1 deadline, said on Tuesday that its April China sales including domestic joint ventures totalled 151,084 vehicles.

That followed a rise of 24.6 percent in March to 137,004 vehicles, also a monthly record.

China's auto market, which overtook the United States as the world's largest in January, has been a leading bright spot in the struggling global auto industry as government incentives spurred a pick-up in demand.

The overall market in March posted sales growth of more than 10 percent.

"Coming off a record month in March, GM is very satisfied with the ongoing strength in domestic sales of both of our joint ventures," GM China Group President Kevin Wale said in a statement on Tuesday.

GM's Asia-Pacific chief, Nick Reilly, said at the Shanghai Auto Show last month that the future success of the company depended on the Asia-Pacific region, and said of China: "We've placed it right on the top of the priority list."

The company's SAIC-GM-Wuling mini-commercial vehicle joint venture posted a particularly robust 60.6 percent surge in sales to 95,544 units in April, led by the Wuling Sunshine minivan. (Reporting by Edmund Klamann; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)