The next Shanghai Auto Show, to be held in April 2005, will occupy a larger exhibition area than the ongoing Beijing Auto Show, the Shanghai Auto Show organizing committee said Friday.

The biennial Shanghai Auto Show next year will occupy an area of 120,000 square meters, 10,000 square meters larger than the current Beijing show, said Chen Xianjin, vice president of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Shanghai Sub-council.

Although affected by the SARS epidemics, the Shanghai Auto Show in 2003 still attracted 730 automobile manufacturers as well as 150,000 visitors, Chen said.