Asian reporters driven wild by Chengdu's auto industry

A tour of FAW Volkswagen's vehicle assembly workshop on Sept 19 in Chengdu took the breath away of a group of journalists from major Asian media organizations.

The modern automated assembly line and good working environment at the workshop left a deep impression on them.

"The assembly process is very interesting and impressive, and I did not expect to see such an elaborate auto industry in Chengdu," said Saher Baloch, a reporter with the Dawn Newspaper based in the Pakistan city of Karachi.

Baloch said that she was also amazed at the clean and well-ventilated environment at the workshop as well as the large number of auto brands at the Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone, where the assembly plant is located.

It was the first visit to a car assembly facility for most of the journalists, and some of them were quite excited, taking non-stop photos to record everything.

"Everyone (has the opportunity to) drive a car, but you don't really get to see how a car is put together, so it was a really interesting experience," said Nadzri Zailani, a reporter with the Brunei Times.

Other journalists said that touring the economic and technological development zone made them better understand the development of Chengdu's auto industry.

In 2013, the zone witnessed robust growth in vehicle output. A total of 732,000 vehicles were produced, up 95.1 percent year-on-year, accounting for 89.6 percent of all the vehicles produced in Sichuan, according to Li Hua, deputy director of the zone's administrative committee.

The income of the auto industry in the zone hit 109.3 billion yuan ($17.83 billion), up 60.1 percent year-on-year. The auto industry contributed 25.68 billion yuan in tax, up 60.7 percent last year, he said.

"We plan to form a capacity of 1 million finished automobiles by 2015 and 1.25 million by 2020, and to transform Chengdu into a top-notch auto industrial facility nationwide," Li said.

The State-level Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone has been named a demonstration facility for new auto industrialization by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

With a planned area of 56.34 square kilometers, the zone has become an advanced facility for motor vehicles and key components manufacturing in Sichuan.

After visiting the Chengdu Economic and Technological Development Zone, journalists made it to the Chengdu Logistics, Trade and Business District, and saw first-hand how Chengdu has served as a cargo transportation hub connecting to Europe and how it helps Sichuan open to the rest of the world.