A quality control licensing system for car exporters will be launched in China on Thursday in a bid to force underperforming automakers out of the market, the South China Morning Post reported. The government, which announced the system at the end of 2006, has yet to give further details on how it will operate. All it has said is that the system will help create national auto stalwarts, a goal that features in the 11th Five-Year Plan. The legislation could mean that, if domestic carmakers fail to establish a foreign beachhead, they may end up being sidelined in the home market as well. China exported 342,400 vehicles in 2006, up 98% on 2005, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.