Int'l Auto Fair Closes, Changchun Dreams of Becoming China's Detroit

The Second Changchun International Automobile Fair closed Wednesday in Changchun, after drawing over one million visitors in six days.

Volkswagen, Audi and 16 other international automakers brought over 100 new models of automobiles to the fair in this capital of Jilin Province in northeast China.

China's First Automobile Works and over 70 other domestic producers were also attracted to the show.

The fair witnessed the signing of 19 contracts worth 2.2 billion yuan.

More than 1,000 vehicles were sold during the fair, which was jointly sponsored by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the municipal government of Changchun and others.

The next event of the fair will be held in August 2003.

Changchun Dreams of Becoming China's Detroit

Almost one in four dwellers in this city's urban districts work for the automobile sector.

That is not the sole reason Changchun dream's of becoming " China's Detroit".

A world-class auto city should be a large-scale auto production base, high-level scientific research and innovation base, modern materials distribution base, and have a traditional auto culture, said Zhang Ming, chief of the organizing committee of the on-going China Changchun International Automobile Fair.

"And Changchun qualifies in these four aspects," he said.

Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, is home to China's first automobile factory and is known as the cradle of the country's automobile industry.

China First Automobile Works Group Corporation (FAW), a symbol of China's national automobile industry founded in July 1953, has developed into the largest auto manufacture and research base in China.

FAW produces more than 550 varieties and sells 400,000 vehicles a year with a total sales volume of 56 billion yuan (6.75 billion U.S. dollars).

Jilin University and an automobile research institute lead scientific automobile research in the country.

Changchun plans to strengthen training of auto professionals and cooperation with international auto research institutes.

Volkswagen from Germany is preparing to build a testing research base in the city.

An economic development zone in Changchun specialized in automobile trading is developing itself into the biggest automobile and spare part wholesale market in China.

"Changchun will further open its auto and auto-related markets and encourage businesses from overseas and other parts of China to participate in the competition," he said.

To prove this, he gave an example of the brands of taxi in the city. Jetta, made in Changchun, no longer monopolizes the taxi market. Santana made by Shanghai Volkswagen Corp., and Fukang made by Aeolus-Citroen Automobile Co., Ltd. in central China's Hubei Province, have already entered the city as taxis.

The auto fair currently underway has received an average of 200, 000 visitors daily. Most local visitors do not go to the show to purchase cars but to have fun.

Some families go to the fair as weekend entertainment from which children can learn more, said Zhang.

The auto culture has become part of local people's lives, he said. People love to talk about cars and go to car shows. Nearly 500,000 urban residents in Changchun are working for the auto or auto-related sectors.

"People in Changchun are confident that they'll build the city into China's Detroit," he said.






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