Expert: China is a large auto country, not a powerful one

• Source: Global Times
• [11:05 August 21 2009]
• Comments

With a growth of 20 percent in recent years, the production and sales volume of Chinese vehicles is estimated to surpass 10 million units in 2009, said Guo Konghui, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, adding that China is only a large auto country, not a powerful one.

The country is now capable of producing advanced-level vehicles, and its monthly sales have exceeded the US this year. Companies enjoying  good profits, however, are mostly joint ventures. Technical and core competence are still held by multinational corporations, said Guo.

In the first half of 2009, the production of Chinese cars reached about 5.99 million units, an increase of 15.22 percent, while the sales volume was 6.09 million units, an increase of 17.69 percent. Benefiting from the government’s preferential policies, the production and sales volume of small vehicles had a growth of 35 percent and 28.7 percent respectively.

Agencies and Wang Lei contributed to this story