国内英语新闻:China's auto makers reject "excess capacity" warning

China overtook the United States to become the world's largest auto maker and auto market in 2009, with output and sales respectively hitting 13.79 million and 13.64 million units last year.

China's auto industry had been manufacturing at 120 percent of its capacity, and most manufacturers were operating more than 20 hours a day, said Xu Changming, head of information resource development at the State Information Center.

The sales was expected to grow by more than 15 percent annually in the next few years, Xu said. "There is no need to worry about excessive output."

However, Chen Bin warned that local governments had been making "blind" efforts to open new factories and expand capacity, as they were encouraged by the industry's healthy profits and economic benefits.

Twenty-seven of the Chinese mainland's 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities have plants that are able to produce finished vehicles.

With the extension of the national auto replacement subsidy to the end of this year, domestic output and sales both exceeded 10 million units in the first seven months, according to data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology last month.