China number one in global automobile market. - On 28 October at the 10th anniversary marking its presence in China, the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) stated that China has become the largest automobiles market in the world. When ACEA opened its office in Beijing in October 2004, car sales in China were just 2.5 million. Today, sales are at 16.3 million, making the Chinese market the largest in the world. ACEA President, Carlos Ghosn stated: “The phenomenal expansion of the Chinese market has been driven to a significant extent by joint ventures involving ACEA's members”. All the different ACEA members, such as the 15 European manufacturers, have business activities in China. For some of them, this involves importing vehicles from other countries but the majority of European manufacturers are involved in the direct manufacturing of vehicles in China and have sometimes been doing this for the past 25 or 30 years. According to ACEA figures, China imports 564,000 vehicles every year from the European Union and exports around 173,000 units. (IL)