On Jan. 20 when China began to halve the sales / purchase tax on 1.6L-minus vehicles to 5%, there were more than 210 new vehicles registered for license plates in Changchun city, more than doubling the less than 100 vehicles previously registered each day, xinhuanet.com reported today.

Chinese bus-maker Zhongwei Bus & Coach Group has failed in a patent infringement lawsuit and is asked to pay more than 20 million yuan ($2.93 million) as compensation for Neoplan Bus GmbH, a subsidiary of Man Group, a Beijing-based newspaper reported Wednesday.

China's third-largest automaker Dongfeng Motor Group announced it fulfilled its 2008 operation targets, achieving sales of 1.3 million vehicles, up 16.12% year on year, sales revenue of 180 billion yuan ($26.35 billion), and profit higher than in 2007, Beijing Business Today reported.

Mazda Motor Corp. said Tuesday its vehicle sales in China rose 25.5% last year to 127,846 units, reported Dow Jones. Mazda said in a statement its sales in China last month rose 22.5% to 12,984 units.

A senior company official said that sales of Skoda brand cars in China would likely to grow 50 percent in 2009 backed by the launch of its third car model in the market, local newspaper reported Tuesday.

After the Chinese government unveiled its stimulus plan for auto and steel sectors last week, the central bank of China on Friday urged banks to lend more money to support the slumping auto industry, said xinhuanet.com yesterday.

vehicle prices further slows down in December, reflecting an aggressive effort by automakers to clear out 2008 models, according to price monitoring data from the country's top economic planner.

China approved a new set of tax cuts and subsidies yesterday to support the country's auto sector, said state media. The subsidies in the package include $732 million set aside for farmers to scrap high-emission vehicles for cleaner ones.

The number of people in China who use internet has surged so much in the past year that currently China has the world's largest number of internet users. It totals the entire U.S. population.

Auto sales in the China are projected to grow about 5% in 2009, xinhuanet.com reported today, citing an official with an industry association.

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China has imported 4.05 million vehicles since the country launched its reform and opening-up policy in 1978, xinhuanet.com said yesterday, citing a commerce ministry official.