China’s imports of vehicles and components more than doubled in the first seven months of 2003 as the motor industry raced to meet the growing demand of a ballooning middle class, Reuters reported.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Citing the Xinhua news agency, Reuters said automotive imports jumped 109.2% year on year to $US8.19 billion in the year to the end of July while parts and components imports were worth $5.21 billion over the same period.
Reuters said the rise included 105,298 vehicles, a year on year increase of 56.2% and, of these, 61,400 were cars, up 58%.
Total automotive imports are on track to be well in excess of $10 billion this year, a new high, Reuters Xinhua quoted a ministry official as saying.
Reuters noted that state media reported in April that imports of vehicles were expected to hit 180,000 units this year against 127,000 vehicles in 2002.
Rising imports pose a small but significant threat to foreign car makers producing in China, such as General Motors and Volkswagen, as well as domestic car makers in a market shielded by high duties on imported cars, Reuters said.
The news agency noted that China has pledged to slash tariffs on vehicle imports to 25% by July 2006 from between 40 and 50% now and abolish all quotas by January 2005, in line with commitments made upon joining the World Trade Organisation in late 2001.
