Sales of imported sedans in the first four months of 2003 surged to 34,100 units, 98 per cent more than in the same period of last year, Shanghai Daily News said. Total motor vehicle imports rose by 113 per cent to 61,100 units during the same period, of which more than 80 per cent were sedans and sports utility vehicles. Analysts said that demand had remained strong in spite of price increases caused by the weakness of the US dollar against the euro and the yen and the
short supply of authorised imports, which is regulated by quotas allocated by the Ministry of Finance.
The ministry set this year's import quota to dealers, including parts, at US$9.125bn, compared with US$7.935bn in 2002. China is committed to increasing quotas by 15 per cent a year until 2005, when they will be removed altogether. Last year, the proportion allocated to imports of completed vehicles accounted for just 24 per cent of the total.
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