Chinese auto makers rolled out 9.04 million vehicles in 2007, up
22.9 percent year on year, said the country's top economic planner,
the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
The figure included an output of 4.95 million passenger
vehicles, an annual jump of 25 percent, Zhu Hongren, the NDRC
deputy economic performance department director, told a news
conference on Monday.
He didn't elaborate on the other vehicles produced.
The country's auto output is expected to exceed 10 million units
this year while passenger car output will likely top five million
units, Zhu predicted.
He added, since quantity was not a problem anymore, auto
producers should increase their focus on quality.
Compared with their international counterparts, China's auto
makers are still small in terms of production scale and behind in
technology. In addition, the country's auto boom has created
growing problems, such as increasing traffic jams and pollution,
despite the greater convenience.
To combat pollution in the capital, Beijing imposed the Euro-III
car emission standard. Despite this, exhaust fumes emitted by the
city's 2.8 million motor vehicles remained one of its primary
sources of pollution.
(Xinhua News Agency January 28, 2008)
