Major players in the auto industry attending the '99 International Franchise Exhibition believe that chain stores will become the favorite marketing ploy for Chinese auto-parts producers in a few years.

Currently, China has more than 110,000 auto-parts makers of varied production scales. Most of them lag behind their foreign counterparts in equipment and management, several experts pointed out.

Some suggested that it is more advisable for competent auto-parts producers to merge and open sales outlets nationwide than for auto makers to establish their own repair and maintenance centers.

By doing so, they noted, resources can be fully used and the auto-parts market will be more competitive when WTO entry allows in foreign manufacturers.

The Lamba Auto Parts Chain Store Co. Ltd. is one Chinese auto-parts maker that has profited from franchising.

Lamba is the only sales outlet of the U.S. NAPA Co., the world's largest auto-parts provider and maintainer. Under the contract, Lamba gets trade mark application rights and technological back-up from NAPA, and is responsible for selling 70 percent of its imported products.

Zhu Guangjun, president of Lamba, said that it is " big news" for NAPA that China will soon enter the WTO.

He said that joining WTO means that Chinese consumers will become more demanding of product quality and service, and Lamba's advantages in this respect will allow them to compete successfully.