NOT BOILING YET

By CHEN HAISHENG

According to the Ministry of Industry andInformation Technology, Chinas auto industryauthority, the sectors achievementsin 2009, marked by growth of over 40 percentwith total production and sales both exceeding13.6 million units, are basically stimulatedby the governments three policies launched inearly 2009. First, the purchase tax was cut byhalf (from 10 percent to 5 percent) for cars with1.6 liters or less engine capacity. This resulted inan increase of sales by more than 2 million cars.Second, stimulus measures to promote vehiclesfor the rural market have helped bring aboutan increase of 1 million units in minivan sales.Third, the government has allocated 5 billionyuan ($732.07 million) in subsidies for trade-invehicle purchases, which led to the elimination of1 million old cars nationwide.