China won't flood U.S. with cars, says ambassador

DETROIT — Chinese automakers will not flood North America with cheap automobiles, says Zhou Wenzhong, China’s ambassador to the United States.

In the coming years, China’s growing market will absorb the vast majority of the vehicles produced by the nation's auto industry, he said today at a meeting of the Detroit Economic Club.

Detroit’s automakers are working on inexpensive autos to compete in low-end segments of the U.S market, he added.

Various Chinese automakers, such as Chery Automobile Co. and Geely Automobile Holdings Group, want to export vehicles to the United States.

Chery has signed a deal with Chrysler LLC to assemble cars that will be sold with a Chrysler brand in the United States. The cars are expected in 2009.

Some analysts in China have suggested that the central government, to prevent a Yugo-like flop of Chinese cars in America, will rigorously inspect exported cars.

Not true, Zhou said. Instead, Chinese automakers will be responsible for meeting quality standards, he said, because they have the most at stake.

“The manufacturers will be very responsible,” he said. “They will do everything correctly.”

He also said that Chinese automakers will not receive subsidies to export cars to North America.

“We have a market economy,” he said. “That won’t happen.”