Car sales in China have been more than 50 percent higher than in the depressed American market.

[pscot]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/30/business/global/30auto.html?_r=1&hp


One of the uncertainties in the auto industry lies in how much longer Chinese authorities will allow the country’s remarkable sales boom to go on and whether China will export a flood of cars if the authorities do clamp down.

Automakers have been struggling for years to keep up with demand in China, as sales have climbed at a pace never seen in a major auto market. The number of cars and light trucks sold in China was one-tenth of that in the United States in 2000. This year, sales in China have been more than 50 percent higher than in the depressed American market.

The result has been traffic jams in the largest Chinese cities, particularly Beijing. And that has elicited an unexpectedly strong response from policy makers.

The Beijing municipal authorities announced last week that they would cap the number of new car registrations at 240,000 a year, just a third of the sales pace this year.

[geckosfeet]

1. Oh well. That's what happens when the investment bankers have all the money

and the people are unemployed.

Maybe if we give the bankers more tax breaks we will get better jobs and the bankers will buy more cars.

Yeah. That's the ticket. Those poor investment bankers need tax breaks to shelter their bonuses.

[girl gone mad]

2. Those 9 day traffic jams..

sound like fun.

If you're really into living out Sartre, that is.

[DCKit]

3. Sounds like the Chinese authoritarians don't like sitting in traffic. nt

[pscot]

4. I'm sure it's only until

they finish their 80,000 kilometer freeway buildout.

[NickB79]

5. Prediction: Chinese politicians will take bribes to register beyond the 240,000 limit

And this law will be regarded as a joke amongst the residents of Beijing.

Then, there will be token crackdowns on corrupt officials every few years but nothing will change.