Auto lobby, policymakers collide over intl investment

Dong's comments came days after China's auto industry regulator said authorities plan to further open the country's automobile industry to foreign investors. Beijing hopes opening up will boost the competitiveness of Chinese partners through absorbing foreign technology and management expertise.

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China's central government has made "fresh calls for more opening" and relevant bodies are "studying the issue and will implement it", Xiao Chunquan, a spokesman of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said this week.

The stance of CAAM, which has around 2,000 members including China's biggest automakers such as SAIC Motor Corp Ltd, FAW Group and Dongfeng, underscores widening tension between the state auto industry and policymakers.

CAAM has previously voiced its opposition to relaxing rules of foreign investment in China's auto sector.

"If China relaxes foreign ownership rules, it would be devastating to China's indigenous brands. Chinese local brands would be killed in the cradle," it said earlier this month.

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