Local-made battery-fueled electric automobiles will be running in Shanghai's streets in 2010 when the city is hosting the World Expo, eastday.com has learned today.

The environmental-friendly automobiles will help reduce tail emission, improve air quality and thus achieve a better environment for the exposition, officials said at an international seminar on car parts and auto battery held today in Shanghai.

Shanghai will become a center of battery-fueled auto production in China, officials said.

The city has already taken the research and development of the new autos as a critical part of the city's technology innovation and industrial development, and has already led in the country in the sector, officials said.

The first battery-fueled model auto has been successfully made in May in the city.

The city's rich resource of hydrogen, with an annual production of 150,000 tons, will guarantee the development of the project, officials said.

In China, the development of autos using clean fuels has become a key effort to help reduce pollution. It's estimated the total amount of tail emission will double in many large cities by 2010.

(eastday.com December 6, 2002)