The second Busworld Asia, a regional exhibition for the coach and bus industry, opened here yesterday.

Staged at the Shanghai New International Exhibition Centre with a total exbihition area of nearly 9,000 square metres, the event drew more than 150 domestic and foreign companies in the industry, including more than 20 home bus and coach manufacturers, such as Zhengzhou-based Yutong, Xi'an-based Silver and Shanghai-based Sunwin.

To the benefit of the coach industry, the country has made great efforts to upgrade its national highway and expressway infrastructure over the past two decades.

Statistics indicate that China now has more than 1.47 million kilometres of highway, and its expressways total some 19,300 kilometres, the second longest road network in the world.

The total annual passenger flow handled by domestic transportation firms has increased from 11.2 billion people in 1996 to 15.8 billion last year.

The increasing demand for road transport, intensified by the booming domestic tourist business, has created rosy prospects for manufacturers and road transport operators.

"We are quite optimistic about the market ahead," said Chang Fengjun, senior marketing executive of Shanghai Sunwin Bus Corp, a 50-50 joint venture set up in 2000 between Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp and Sweden-based Volvo Bus Corp.

In 2001, Sunwin sold 1,150 buses. It is gearing towards the sale of 1,500 units this year.

However, domestic manufacturers and road transport operators need further restructuring and upgrading of their technology and management levels to enhance their competitive edge, analysts said.

( China Daily March 27, 2002)