China will restrict the access of domestic companies to the automobile export business next year to curb the present industrial infighting, a commerce official said on Monday.

 

Zhang Ji, deputy director-general of the Electromechanical and Science and Technology Department of the Ministry of Commerce told the China Automotive News that to acquire export licenses, companies must have a large enough automobile export volume, which means not every company is allowed into the business.

 

He said that a strategic alliance would probably be established by August between the China Ocean Shipping Corporation, the China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation and the country's major automobile exporters.

 

The move was said to facilitate the communication among domestic exporters and to curb vicious competition through price cuts.

 

Director Zhang Xiaoyu of the Society of Automotive Engineers of China said that "the bottom-line" of automobile exports was not to lose money.

 

"We have learnt lessons from past price wars on the export of automobile parts and motorcycles. We need to do a better job in exporting passenger cars and business sedans," Zhang said.

 

Although China's automobile output takes up 10 percent of the world's total, its export volume represents less than one percent as official statistics have revealed.

 

(Xinhua News Agency June 27, 2006)