China to Become a Net Exporter of Auto Vehicles By 2015

China is expected to become a net exporter of auto vehicles during the 12th “Five-Year” plan (2010-2015).

China is expected to become a net exporter of auto vehicles during the 12th “Five-Year” plan (2010-2015), a government official said Sunday.

During the past five years, China’s auto export has witnessed a rapid development with the value of export reached 28.6 billion U.S. dollars in 2008 from 14.4 billion U.S. dollars in 2006.

Despite the growth, the value of auto export only accounts less than 2 percent of exports in total, which is far less than world’s average level.

“The proportion is relatively low, but it is going to rise over the next few years,” Liu Yingjie, a researcher at China’s State Council, or cabinet told reporters on the sidelines of a news conference on the publication of the Industry Blue Book.

Shares of China’s auto vehicles globally had risen to 2.32 percent in 2008 from 1.64 percent in 2006, according to the Blue Book.

China became the world’s largest motor vehicles market, both by sales as by production in 2009. Sales in China during the January ~ July period of 2010 rose to 10.26 million units while production jumped to 10.21 million units during the same period. For the whole year of 2010, the figures, both sales and production, are expected to exceed 16 million units, according to a forecast made by China Auto Industry Association.

As China’s auto market keeps expanding, more and more overseas auto makers begin to build manufacturing mills in China, according to a survey released by Jones Lang LaSalle in July. Currently, some automakers mainly from the United States and Australia are conducting researches on factory locations, the report said.