After two days of previews restricted to media members, the 2011 Shanghai Auto Show finally opened to the public on Thursday. As Shanghai has hosted the event for over 20 years, the show has joined the ranks of the top global auto shows. CCTV reporter Zou Yun reports from Shanghai.

 

A glamorous international metropolis, a world-class venue, with thousands of innovative models and millions of wide-eyed fans, the 2011 Shanghai Auto Show is now on.

The show covers an area of 230,000 square meters, with visitors hitting a new high, 700 thousand. And remember, some are extremely generous buyers. Starting from 1985, the biennial auto exhibition has become one of the industry's most important as automakers look to booming China to drive profits. This year's auto show is China's largest ever, and is expected to have the biggest impact to Chinese auto market.

But behind the fascinating picture, there seems to be a problem: compared with other world-class auto shows like ones in Detroit and Frankfurt, which are mainly supported by a competitive auto industry, the Shanghai Auto show is mainly led by China's increasing purchasing power. And even though the Chinese auto shows keeps improving each year, there are still aspects that can be upgraded.

Xiong Chuanlin, Deputy Secretary-General of China Assoc. of Automobile Manufacturers, said, "I expect that more advanced technology will be showcased at both the Shanghai and Beijing auto shows, more new model debuts, and there's also a great space for services provided by the show to media, auto makers and audiences to improve."

Experts say an auto show, to some degree, can be seen as a miniature of the competitiveness of a country's auto industry, and obviously, the role of China's domestic auto brands need to be strengthened. But on the plus side, Chinese auto makers have seen the problems, and are putting more effort to the innovation of technology, merger and acquisition of small players in the sector, and the integration of whole resources, in order to play a bigger role in not only the auto show, but the global auto sector as a whole.