"The import of automobiles is greatly vulnerable to changes in policies. For example, the import of Japanese cars will be sharply down due to the cancellation of old orders and the stagnation of new ones in the next six months," Pan Zushun, general manager of China's Automobile Imports Trade Center said here Monday.

Meanwhile, the imports of cars from European countries will keep increasing, with Germany being the biggest beneficiary from the current change. Auto-makers like Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi have announced their decision to export more cars to China.

Volvo, Renault and Citroen will also further increase their exports to the Chinese market, said Pan, noting that the Republic of Korea auto producers also expect good opportunities in China.

Experts here believed that in the coming months, some Japanese manufacturers may change their old sales pattern to sell more car parts instead of complete cars.

(People's Daily 07/24/2001)