BEIJING, Feb.12 (Xinhuanet) -- environment-friendly hybrid car is expected to hit the Chinese market at the end of 2006 after four years of development.

    The cars run on a mixture of electricity and fuel and are made by several Chinese car makers, including the Dongfeng Motor Corporation (DFM), Chang'an Motor Corp, Chery Auto Company and the China FAW Group Corporation.

    According to Wan Gang, head of a national team of experts on the hybrid automobile program, scaled production of the vehicles has been listed as a key task in China's 11th Five-Year Program from 2006 to 2010 so many more Chinese families will own the low-emission cars by 2010.

    The development of hybrid vehicles was listed as a key project in China's "863 program" - a national high-tech plan initiated in March 1986 to enhance the country's overall power - as part of the Tenth Five-Year Plan in the year 2001.

    In recent years, Chinese experts have made great progress on the design and development of a series of hybrid buses, including the fuel-cell bus, the hybrid-electric bus and a bus purely run on electricity.

    Twenty hybrid-electric buses, designed and made by DFM, are in service in Wuhan city, capital of central China's Hubei Province. Another flagship hybrid bus also drove off the China FAW Group Corporation production line recently.

    Wan noted that the two types of hybrid buses have both passed official tests, signifying the start of the mass production of environment-friendly buses in China.

    Statistics released by the FAW said hybrid buses can save over 30 percent in oil use and reduce harmful exhausts by 30 percent.

    According to Wan, an increasing number of Chinese automobile manufacturers have selected hybrid vehicles as targets for future development.

    "These firms have formed China's first hybrid automobile production base," Wan acknowledged.

    A senior official with the Ministry of Science and Technology said that China has scored remarkable progress in the development of hybrid vehicles and that in-house production would undoubtedly increase its competitiveness in the global market.

    Though great progress has been made in China's hybrid automobile industry, experts maintain that its level of technology is still far behind more advanced international standards.

    Experts urged the Chinese government to issue more favorable measures in support of the production of hybrid cars in China. Enditem