The Chinese government plans to support the car industry, the second-largest in the world, with the aim of ensuring sales growth of about 10 per cent in 2009.
The move is part of the continuing effort to stimulate the economy and shield the country from the effects of the global economic crisis.
The State Council, China's cabinet, is expected soon to announce cuts in car purchase taxes and incentives for the development of clean fuel cars, to help support the flagging local car market, according to the official Shanghai Securities Journal.
After years of double-digit growth, Chinese passenger car sales fell 12 per cent year on year in November as consumer worries about economic growth sapped demand. Figures for December are expected next week.
The proposed sales tax cut on smaller vehicles could help automakers such as Geely, one of the largest Chinese car companies. Geely said yesterday it expects to boost sales by 25 per cent this year as it introduces new models.
Government bodies will be required to buy cars developed by domestic automakers when making fleet purchases, and Beijing will encourage further consolidation in the domestic car industry, the newspaper said. China has 45 carmakers compared with 15 in the US, the world's largest car market.
Premier Wen Jiabao said last week that Beijing had developed plans to help the automobile and steel sectors.
Yao Hongguang, Shenzhen-based analyst at United Securities, said: “With such a basket of stimulus policies, sales growth in the car market this year can reach 10 per cent, still much lower than the compound growth rate of 15-20 per cent over the past five years.”
But JD Power, the leading auto consultancy, said it was still predicting flat or slightly lower passenger car sales in 2009, at 5.8m units.
This is based on the assumption that the global economy will stabilise in the first quarter of this year, and that China's economic stimulus policies offset negative pressures from overseas – neither of which are guaranteed to happen.
JD Power said in a December report that there was a 40 per cent chance the Chinese market could fall by 10-12 per cent, in spite of government efforts to support the market.
参考译文：
中国政府计划为汽车业提供支持，目标是确保2009年销售增长10%左右。中国的汽车业在全球排名第二。
此举是中国政府继续努力刺激经济和避免中国受到全球经济危机影响措施的一部分。
据官方报纸《上海证券报》报道，预计中国国务院将很快宣布降低汽车购置税和鼓励发展清洁燃料汽车，以帮助支持陷入困境的国内汽车市场。
在经过多年的两位数增长后，由于消费者对经济增长的担忧影响了需求，中国乘用车去年11月的销量同比下降了12%。12月份的数据预计将在下周发布。
降低小排量汽车购置税的计划可能有利于吉利(Geely)等汽车制造商。作为中国最大汽车厂商之一的吉利昨日表示，随着新车型的推出，预计今年的销量将增长25%。
《上海证券报》称，中国政府将要求政府部门进行采购时购买国内汽车制造商生产的汽车，并鼓励国内汽车业的进一步整合。中国有45家汽车制造商，而作为全球最大汽车市场的美国只有15家。
中国国务院总理温家宝上周表示，政府已制定出振兴汽车和钢铁行业的规划。
联合证券驻深圳分析师姚红光表示：“有了这样的一揽子刺激政策，今年汽车市场销量增幅可能会达到10%，仍远远低于过去5年15%至20%的复合增长率。”
但领先汽车咨询公司JD Power表示，该公司仍预计2009年乘用车销量持平于580万辆或略有下降。
JD Power的预测基于下述假设：全球经济将在今年第一季度趋于稳定，中国的经济刺激政策会抵消来自海外的消极影响——这两种情况都不能保证一定会发生。
JD Power去年12月发表的报告称，尽管政府努力提供支持，但中国汽车市场下降10%至12%的几率仍有40%。
（转载）
