Individual Car Ownership Surging in China

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, June 10, 2003

Individual Car Ownership Surging in China

Motor vehicles, once cited as a luxury for individuals in China, have become standard consumer products for growing numbers of families.

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Motor vehicles, once cited as a luxury for individuals in China, have become standard consumer products for growing numbers of families.

Latest official statistics indicate that the number of individually-owned cars in China has now exceeded 10 million, amounting to one car for 120 people on average.

However, before the 1990s, cars were purchased and used mainly by government departments or businesses. In 1992, the number of cars owned by individuals stood only at about one million.

But the figures jumped to 9.69 million by the end of 2002, and from January to April this year, 1.36 million cars were sold nationwide, with at least 800,000 going to individuals.

The surge in the number of cars bought by individuals has spurred the growth of China's car industry, which has for the first time become one of the country's five pillar industries in the first quarter of this year.

Experts predicted that China would overtake France in car production this year, becoming the world's fourth largest car producer after the United States, Japan and Germany.

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