As the number of vehicles on the road continues to climb across the country, China is fast becoming a nation of drivers. Though cars bring convenience, with them also comes increasing concern over problems like insufficient infrastructure, traffic congestion and pollution.

As a pillar of the national economy, the auto industry has been a hot topic among delegates to the ongoing sessions of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, including representatives of the auto industry, experts and government officials.

Wan Gang, minister of science and technology

"China's auto industry must have technological innovations and such innovations can start with new-energy vehicles. We must come up with several world-class platforms. If there can emerge one or two leading companies, we are realizing the China dream. Competition is required because protectionism is not good for the market in the long term."

 

Li Shufu, chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co

"I came here (the Great Hall of the People) by unlicensed cab because I could not find a taxi. You see that the number of taxis cannot meet the demand while there are a great number of unlicensed cabs. Then why not make them legal? We should break the monopoly in the taxi market by letting the market decide how resources are allocated and the government's role is to draw up standards on market access. We tend to solve economic problems with administrative methods. They are proving to be hurting public interests."

 

Xu Heyi, chairman of Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Co

"Some city governments have set a bad example of curbing private vehicle purchase and now more are joining their ranks. The auto industry will suffer as a result. China will surely produce more than 20 million vehicles a year, so such problems (as traffic congestion and air pollution) will become more noticeable. But if we simply curb auto production and sales, there might emerge new problems."

 

Xu Ping, chairman of Dongfeng Motor Group

"The nation should work out an overall strategy for developing a strong auto industry. As many problems arise with the rapid growth of the automotive market, we are in greater need of a rational and scientific strategy and practical ways of implementation. Of course, we must rely on internationalized Chinese brands. We must have good Chinese brands before we can have a strong Chinese auto industry."

 

Wang Fengying, president of Great Wall Motor Co

"As car sales rise rapidly, many smaller cities in the next five to 10 years will become auto cities like Beijing or Shanghai. Now that urbanization is an inevitable trend in the country, governments in smaller cities should plan in advance to build related infrastructure. Otherwise, they will have to resort to remedies of first and second-tier cities of curbing car purchase to solve problems such as traffic jam and air pollution."

 

Li Weidou, deputy chief engineer of FAW Group

"China should have a larger say in technical regulations and standards for Chinese brands to gain an initiative for their development. As we are developing new-energy vehicles and upgrading the auto industry, relevant ministries should come up with China's own standards in considerations of its conditions including social development and environmental protection. In other words, the Chinese market cannot be dominated by standards that represent the interest of foreign brands."

 

Yan Ping, chairman of Guangxi Yuchai Machinery Group

"The governments should offer subsidies to stimulate medium and heavy commercial vehicle producers to improve their emission systems. For instance, many such vehicles use outdated mechanical pumps and updating will increase the costs for manufacturers. And if the costs are transferred to buyers, price hikes are very likely, not only in the automotive market, but also the entire value chain from vehicle sales to logistics."

 

Tang Yuxiang, chairman of Zhengzhou Yutong Group Co

Energy-saving and new-energy buses have important economic and social value in promoting environmental protection and easing traffic jams. I propose that the governments speed up their efforts to promote hybrid and electric buses. This will boost the development of the new-energy auto industry and help improve social development and the quality of peoples' lives."