CRI听力:Guangzhou Limits Car Sales

Guangzhou is the fourth city on the Chinese mainland to limit car purchases by clamping down on vehicle registrations. The others are Beijing, Shanghai and Guiyang, capital of Southwest China's Guizhou province. Beijing started capping new car ownership at 20,000 a month in January last year to tackle the city's chronic traffic gridlock. The move slowed the pace of traffic congestion, and is partially considered as a drag on China's falling car sales.

The car purchase limitation in Guangzhou will reduce car sales in the city by half according to the local government. So far, the city has 2.4 million vehicles. Medium and small-sized private cars in the city number 1.7 million, two and a half times the amount of five years ago.

The announcement has already affected business at local auto dealerships.

However, car manufacturers seem calm despite the looming challenge. Manufacturers say they have alternatives and plan on finding more customers in second and third tier cities in China.

"I think the policy in Guangzhou shows that the auto market here has grown into a mature one. I don't think it will reduce too much in sales volume since this only applies to the urban area of Guangzhou."

"For any auto brand in China, the policy change is as much an opportunity as it is a challenge. We have to focus on making better cars and exploring larger markets elsewhere."

China has seen rapid growth in the auto industry in recent years as it has become the largest car market in the world. However, since last year, the once red-hot car market has slowed down under the weight of a cooling economy. Vice Councilor Fu Yuwu from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers based in Beijing says such policies will place further burden upon the already gloomy state of car sales.

"The policy will provide a certain amount of inconvenience for consumers who want to have their own cars. Guangzhou is the last first tier city to introduce the car purchase limitation. The development of the auto industry and the development of cities have now contradicted each other."

The expert says the development of the auto industry has contributed a lot to the country's economy. But at the same time, worsening traffic, polluted air and other problems related to city development have also increased the country's social cost.

For CRI, I'm Liu Min.