In 2004 China's export of automobile products reached 8.156 billion US dollars, a sharp growth of 73 percent which was much higher than the 13 percent import growth, according to latest statistics from the Mechanical and Electrical Department of the Ministry of Commerce.

The trade deficit of auto products narrowed down visibly from 9.737 billion dollars of 2003 to 8.177 billion dollars last year.

Customs statistics showed that in 2004 China's auto product import reached 16.333 billion dollars, up 13.1 percent over the previous year. While the whole-year auto product export hit a record of 8.156 billion dollars, an increase of 3.446 billion dollars over the 4.71 billion dollars in 2003.

Due to the wide gap between China's auto industry and the world's, presently it's difficult for the nation to export whole cars, especially sedans, in large quantities, an expert from the Ministry pointed out. But it's completely possible for China to achieve high-speed growth in parts export in a comparatively short period, since the nation's auto component parts industry has developed to a certain level with quite a large scale.