There is no doubt that China is the growth engine for the global auto industry, considering that it accounted for sales of 25.31 million vehicles last year or around one-third of the total worldwide.

Senior executives from Volkswagen to Toyota have acknowledged China"s contribution at their annual meeting speeches. The China market has helped soften their COVID-19-induced sales declines.

Luxury marque Bentley saw record deliveries in its 101-year history, thanks to sales in China, which accounted for over a quarter of its deliveries worldwide, offsetting slumps in Europe and the Middle East.

However, that was not always the case. For decades after the founding of the People"s Republic of China in 1949, the country"s auto industry remained underdeveloped, with an almost negligible market.

The continuous growth of recent decades, which has been the envy of other countries, was unleashed step by step as China opened up the sector and international carmakers played their part, said experts.

The country"s first vehicle, a Jiefang truck, rolled off the FAW assembly line in 1956, and two years later the first famed FAW Hongqi limousine for State leaders came out. They were joined by another two to three models in the next two decades.