The latest statistics indicate China's auto trade volume kept a surplus in the first four months of 2005, after the last quarter of 2004.

Experts said the surplus is a good sign of China's autos marching into the world market, but issues such as intellectual property rights, domestic market exploration still need deep consideration.

In the first four months, China's total imports of autos reduced 44.19 percent, while overall exports rose nearly 4.1 times over the previous year.

The fastest growing part in auto exports were sedans, which refers to China's domestic autos. Not only African countries, but north American and European nations began to import Chinese cars. Sedan exports increased over two times. Gelee, Cherry are famous export brands, which have factories outside China, said Lin Yuan, a transportation analyst.

Lin said China's auto industry is picking up, however, and its dream of becoming Asia's third largest export nation is still far away.

Firstly, its intellectual property rights are still lagging behind, which means a bottleneck for exports. Lacking famous brands, China's autos can only achieve short-term profits, which may cause cheap prices in the end.

China has the world's biggest potential market. But millions of people in small towns cannot find suitable car models. Many domestic manufacturers prefer to develop the African market rather than the domestic one, said Wei Ning, an expert on free trade.

(Xinhua News Agency July 26, 2005)