| 24-09-2007
China's
vehicle exports may increase at least 46 percent this year as auto makers manufacture
more sedans and trucks. Auto
shipments will exceed 500,000 units in 2007, the Ministry of Commerce said in
a statement on its Website on Saturday, quoting Minister Bo Xilai at a meeting
with the nation's car exporters. Last year, overseas sales doubled to 342,400
units, customs data showed. China
has more than tripled automobile output and sales since joining the World Trade
Organization in 2001. Last year, it surpassed Germany as the world's third-largest
vehicle maker. The
nation has designated eight port cities, including Shanghai, Tianjin and Xiamen,
to serve as the country's main automobile and component export centers. "China
has to expand its overseas markets as production capacities for vehicles are rising
much faster than we had expected," Zhang Xin, a Beijing-based analyst with
Guotai Junan Securities Co, told. "Many Chinese exports are currently sold
to the low-end markets, including Africa and South America, with low margins." The
government will increase the threshold for exporters to improve the quality of
vehicle shipments, the statement said. It will also encourage Chinese auto companies
to invest overseas and merge with rivals, the statement said, without elaborating. China's
vehicle production will reach 8.5 million units this year, according to the ministry. Output
may catch up with domestic demand by 2012, earlier than a previous estimate of
2020, Guotai's Zhang said. Auto
exports rose 70 percent to 294,000 units in the first seven months from a year
earlier, while the value of component shipments increased 32 percent to US$8.85
billion. Exports
of engine parts, wheels, tires, brakes and other components, helped by low labor
costs, will rise to US$40 billion by the end of 2010, the China Association of
Automobile Manufacturers reported. China's
auto production has experienced annual growth rate of 45.8 percent since 2002,
a senior official with the top economic planner said on Saturday. At
the end of last year, the output value of the country's auto industry accounted
for 3.7 percent of China's gross domestic production, said Zhang Guobao, vice
minister of the National Development and Reform Commission. Employment
in auto and auto-related industries accounted for one-sixth of the nation's total
work force, he said.
Editor:Ida.Zhang
from Chinabuses.com
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