CHANGCHUN - Soon after obtaining a driver's license, Xiao Xu, a young teacher in an industrial city in northeast China, has put car purchase on her agenda as she eagerly wants to sit behind the wheel.

Xiao Xu seems to have every reason to buy a car: economically ample, wish for a comfortable tour to work, little traffic in the city where she lives,or in other words, to improve the quality of her life.

"Anyhow, I will buy a car before my marriage," said the 26-year-old teacher Changchun Science and Technology University, at the Changchun International Automobile Expo.

Like Xu, more and more urban Chinese are planning to buy their own cars, no longer a luxury item as the country's rapid economic growth have plumped up their pockets.              

"I want to buy a car priced between 50,000 and 100,000 yuan (US$6,570 to 13,157)," said Xiao Xu, at the expo which ended on Sunday in Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province.

... Last year, both the sales and output of cars exceeded 7.2 million in China. The national sales of automobiles may reach 10 million by 2010.

US automobile sales, not counting "light trucks" which includes some SUV's, were 7.64 million last year, and including those trucks was 15.5 millions sales per year.

Statistics with China's Public Security Bureau shows the accumulative number of privately owned sedans has exceeded 13 million by the end of June, up 16 percent from the end of last year.

But the growing number of cars brought about high-energy consumption, traffic jam and pollution from vehicle exhaust.