In 2005 China exported 172,639 autos, 11,031 more than the import, according to latest figures from the Ministry of Commerce.

This is the first time for the country to export more cars than import in a year. In 2005 China exported 172,639 autos worth 1.58 billion U.S. dollars, jumping 120.5 percent and 158.4 percent year on year respectively.

Of them, China exported 31,125 sedans worth 271 million U.S. dollars, jumping 233.4 percent and 222.2 percent year on year, and 1,844 off-road vehicles, 10,442 microbuses, 6,433 large and medium-sized buses, 96,549 camions and some special-use vehicles.

Meanwhile China imported 161,608 autos worth 5.2 billion U.S. dollars, down 8 percent and 4.5 percent year on year.

Of them, China imported 76,542 sedans worth 2.6 billion dollars, down 34.1 percent and 20.7 percent, 65,966 off-road vehicles worth 1.8 billion dollars, up 86.8 percent and 66.3 percent and 12,487 microbuses worth 266 million dollars, up 17 percent and 14.9 percent. China's import of large and medium-sized buses, camions and special-use vehicles dropped in 2005.

Since the average unit price of autos exported by China is much lower than that imported by China, the total auto export volume is less than one third of the import volume although the export overruns the import in terms of car numbers.

Source: Xinhua