China's auto electronics market will maintain its momentum in the coming few years, with products more intelligent and integrated, according to sources at an industry development summit held Tuesday in Tianjin, a manufacturing base in northern China.

The market will be valued at about 105 billion yuan (US$12.7 billion) in 2005, as against the 2003 level of 55 billion yuan (US$6.6 billion). The value in 2003 was 41.5 percent higher than the previous year, industry insiders said.

Network, intelligent and integrated technologies will become the mainstream of the auto electronics manufacturing, the industry insiders forecast.

The huge development prospects of the auto electronics market will continue to benefit from the skyrocketing growth in the auto industry on the Chinese mainland, the industry insiders added.

Last year China produced 4.44 million motor vehicles and sold out 4.39 million, up 35 percent and 34 percent respectively from the year-earlier level.

Statistics show that China has over 1,000 auto electronics producers and related enterprises, yet most of them are small sized with unitary products of low technology content.

Of the auto electronics companies that were established over past few years, 70 percent or so were Sino-foreign joint ventures, and many of their partners were transnational firms specializing in auto electronics manufacturing. The joint-venture companies have become a major force on the auto electronics market in China.

(China Daily July 1, 2004)