Robert Buechelhofer, a director of the German auto giant, said at a recent press conference in Shanghai that the company would also open new services such as financing and leasing in the region in the future.

Buechelhofer said that China is the fastest growing market in the world and it is also the second largest market of Volkswagen.

In 2002, more than 510,000 Volkswagen cars were sold in China, 42.8 percent more than that of the previous year. The company has sold more than 2.8 million cars in China since it established its first joint venture in Shanghai in 1985.

Buechelhofer said that currently Volkswagen and Audi cars account for more than 50 percent of China's auto market.

The German auto company plans to put five models on the Chinese market this year, and by 2007 plans to sell more than 1 million Volkswagen cars annually in China.

Buechelhofer said that his company pays close attention to the 2008 Summer Olympic Games which will be held in Beijing and the World Expo to be held in Shanghai in 2010.

He hoped that his company could export its products made in China to other markets in the Asia-Pacific region following China's accession to the World Trade Organization.

Thanks to the sharp increase in the sales of Volkswagen cars on the Chinese market, sales in the Asia-Pacific region totaled 620,000 in 2002, 34.6 percent more than the previous year, or 12.4 percent of Volkswagen's global sales.

(Xinhua News Agency March 4, 2003)