cunning linguist, in fact, the chinese car industry is in its infancy. during the short period of time of these 20 years or so, they've been able to copy other models, purchase rights to other countries brand names such as the ailing British MG, and then acquire some high tech machinery to either produce their own or assemble western cars. I really don't think they are doing poorly, although i can see some great dangers as chinese are quite an opposite to the, say for example german perfectionists. one milimeter here or there means nothing to many chinese and even the local engineers scratch their heads why they should be so "strict" on themselves. moreover and as mentioned in your post, the local regulations and habits surely raise doubts about the chinese car industry and its home grown (western copies) brand names such as great wall, cherry etc may only bring headaches to the western markets and their customers.

so, why would a country stick its nose into such a number of industries rather than specialize in a few sectors only? wouldn't chinese be better off focusing on exports of food and textile prodcuts rather than meddling in high tech products too? what's behind the local trends that suggest this country just wants to produce everything and doesn't want anything from others? how much damage globally are we looking at in, say for example 20 years from now with such a trend of this country?

cheers and beers to the chinese wheels behind their ponish donkeys :)