The automobile industry is set to expand rapidly in the next few years in Guangzhou, one of south China's major gateways to the outside world.
The Honda Motor Company based in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, currently is capable of producing only 50,000 cars a year, but this will jump to 200,000 cars a year by 2005, say corporate sources.
Information from the Aeolus Automobile Co. Ltd. based in the city's Huadu District, says the car maker will produce 35,000 Bluebird cars this year. By 2007, the company will be able to make 240,000 cars.
In the meantime, businesses engaged in producing auto spare parts have been increasing rapidly in Guangzhou.
Some 200 such companies have set up in Huadu District alone, which has helped integrate automobile production in the district.
Guangzhou's automobile industry is estimated to be worth more than 100 billion yuan (about US$12.05 billion) within three years, which will account for one-fifth of the city's total industrial output value.
(Xinhua News Agency November 9, 2002)
