Government to put brake on production
1 March 2003
The State Economic and Trade Commission said in its forecast of trends for 2003 that it expected China would produce around 3.6m cars this year, 3.4 per cent more than the 3.38m produced in 2002. The commission's statement said that the sector had witnessed 'blind over-expansion', with a number of regions racing to enter the car industry. It added that the central government would soon issue policies to guide and regulate investment in the sector.
Dutch financial services group ING Financial Markets forecast that car sales in China, buoyed by falling import tariffs and rising incomes, could rise from 3.2m vehicles in 2001 to 4.7m in 2004
