Sales of China's imported vehicles reached 153,000 in the first half of this year. And those with 3 liter engines and below accounted for a significant portion. But sales of clean energy vehicles were hampered by higher prices. The Ministry of Commerce says China is continuing to assess preferential policies for clean energy cars.

At the Beijing Imported Car Exhibition this weekend, energy-saving and environmentally-friendly cars exceeded 30 percent of the total cars on display. The latest figures show China's imports of low and medium-emission cars have gone up by over 38 percent during the first half of the year. In contrast, imports of high emission cars went down by nearly 13 percent year-on-year. China has adopted preferential policies for low-emission cars.

Chen Deming, Chinese Commerce Minister, said, "In the coming six months, we will continue opening the market to foreign energy-saving cars and low-emission cars. We are drafting favorable policies for new and hybrid energy cars with low emissions. Currently, oil and electricity mix power technology is mature enough but quite expensive. Relevant departments will go further on preferential policies."

(CCTV August 3, 2009)