China's automobile output is expected to total a record of 4.3 million (US$500,000) in 2003, according to sources with a recent news conference on auto industry being held in this capital city.

Zhu Yiping, director of the Information Department of China Automobile Industry Association, said the output is to reach 1.2 million in the last quarter this year, with sales totaling 600,000 in the same period.

The sales are expected to total 1.9 million by the end of this year.

According to Zhu, a total of 3.1989 million automobiles were produced in China during the first nine months this year, up 35.77 percent on a year-on-year basis.

The statistics symbolize that China's auto industry is developing at an "extremely" fast speed, said Zhu.

(China Daily October 23,2003)