China's Raises Import Quotas For Autos, Auto Parts.

The Chinese government said it set its import quotas for automobile and key auto parts at $ 9.125 billion for 2003, increasing by 15 percent over $ 7.935 billion in 2002. Quota application by major domestic automobile companies this year exceeds that in last year. Although absolute number of automobile import of complete sets will rise slightly this year, it is far less than market expectation.

Vehicles will still be in short supply, which will stimulate the price for imported vehicles. Allocation of import quota for automobiles will abide by the criteria of meeting the need of domestic automotive industry in key parts for imported production lines and in CKD parts first.

Analysts pointed out that domestic automotive manufacturers will launch 30-40 new models this year, but there is still a need to import in large quantities. China lowered tariffs on imported automobiles on January 1, 2003. China further lowered the tariff rate for imported vehicles of 3 liter capacity and above from 50.7 percent to 43 percent, and for vehicles with capacity below 3 liters from 43.8 percent to 38.2 percent.