China Market Overview

1. China's auto market exploded in 2003, passenger car sales jumping 82% year-over-year. Yet China's auto industry is still in early stages with strong growth projected for years ahead.

2. China is the world's largest telecommunications market with some 280 million mobile subscribers and 270 million wireline subscribers. New wireline subscribers are being connected at close to two million per month while mobile subscribers are growing at four million per month, overall at 14% growth rate.

3. Chinese household appliance manufacturers are experiencing growth in excess of 35% per year. The demand for China's household electric appliances, both domestic and for export, pushed production levels overall for many small and major appliance product categories up 40 to 50 percent or more in 2003.

4. At approximately 1.29 billion people, China is the world's most populous nation, yet Internet penetration and ecommerce are still in the developmental growth stages. According to statistics released by the China Internet Network Information Center, China, with nearly 80 million Internet users, currently trails only the USA and Japan. With the number of Internet users growing at around 5% a month, a household penetration rate of 25% percent is conceivably only three or four years off.