Jia Qinglin, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, attended a ceremony to mark the cars' Beijing debut, the result of a 50-50 joint venture deal between the two countries.

The deal, which is the first automobile joint venture approved by China after the country entered the World Trade Organization, was signed on May 28, 2002. Production started on Nov. 18 and more than 3,000 of the Sonata cars have been ordered to date.

It is estimated that 2,000 cars will be made by the end of the year.

According to Xu Heyi, board chairman of the Beijing Hyundai Motors, 50,000 cars will be produced and sold in 2003 and the joint venture will be able to manufacture 300,000 cars in two years.

(People’s Daily December 24, 2002)