At the ongoing Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2006,
which is held in Boao, a scenic town in south China's Hainan Province, world auto manufacturers give
their comments on China's auto industry at a session on Friday
evening. They all believe that China has great potential and
opportunities in this regard with its rapid economic development,
but at the same time, some challenges to this country and the
industry are obvious.
Following two decades of reform and opening up, China's economy
has maintained a strong momentum, and along with it, China's auto
market has also expanded significantly, said Hattori Etsuo, chief
representative of Toyota Motor Corporation China Office.
In the foreseeable future, China's auto market will continue its
robust and fast growth momentum along with its economy. By 2010,
the sales volume will reach around 9 million units, said Etsuo.
However, Etsuo pointed out, the rapid growth of the auto market
has also produced some negative impacts.
First of all there is a shortage of energy. China's dependency
ratio on imported oil has exceeded 30 percent. The State
Information Center has predicted that by 2010 China's dependency
ratio on imported oil will grow to 44 percent.
He said that the oil consumption by vehicles in China account
for 35 percent of the total and the figure will further grow to 43
percent by 2010.
"In order to ease oil shortage, the auto industry must face the
challenges to reduce vehicle's energy consumption," he said.
Etsuo said that another problem brought along with China's rapid
auto market development is air pollution, quoting figures from the
State Information Center: the average percentage of air pollution
caused by vehicles in urban area has increased to 79 percent in
2005.
Kevin Wale, president and managing director of General Motors
China, forecast that every 1,000 people in China will own 100 cars
by 2010, compared with the current 24.
"What is the next step in the development of China's automobile
industry?" asked Wale.
"China has the opportunity to not only participate in but
potentially lead the next-phase technological development in the
automobile industry, particularly in the auto technological
development and alternative fuel vehicles," he said.
He said alternative fuel vehicles will be in increasing demand
in the international market. If China wants to play a leading role
in the global auto industry, it needs not only to be an auto
manufacturer, but also to be a leader in the application and
innovation of automobile technology.
To achieve this, he said, China needs to encourage cooperation
and partnership among different countries and between foreign and
domestic companies.
"Partnership has served as a driving force for quality,
reliability, safety and environmental protection and raise the
level of the entire industry, including indigenous companies," said
Wale. "By working together, China will reach a near-impossible task
in the establishment of an advanced world-class automobile industry
that is among global leaders in innovation, quality and cost," he
added.
(China.org.cn by staff reporter Yuan Fang, April 22, 2006)