The Third Changchun International Automobile Fair came to a close Tuesday in the capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, having drawn over 1.1million visitors and 1,000 Chinese companies and automobile manufacturers from 24 countries and regions.

As one of the three major auto fairs in China, the Changchun fair, which opened last Tuesday, was co-held by the Jilin provincial government, the Changchun municipal government, the China Association for the Promotion of International Trade, and the China Association of Machine-Building Industry.

A total of 13 investment projects were signed at the fair, worth a total of 1.47 billion yuan (US$177 million), and 2,200 cars were sold, totaling 483 million yuan (US$58.19 million).

The five top-selling of cars at the fair were Audis, Red Flags, Suzukis, Southeasts and Flyers.

This year's fair was very significant as it coincided with the 50th anniversary of both China's auto industry and the China First Automobile Works Group.

Changchun is considered a major base of China's auto industry. The international automobile fair is a biennial event, and was first held in 1999.

(Xinhua News Agency July 23, 2003)