BEIJING, March 13 (Xinhuanet) -- A Chinese expert predicts the country's auto market will maintain a 10 percent growth over the next 20 years, Beijing News reported on Monday.

????Xu Changming, an expert from the Resources Development Department of the State Information Center, forecast in his reporton the mid- and long-range development trends of China's auto market that the auto industry will continue its rapid growth over the next two decades.

????China's investment in the auto industry reached 100 billion yuan ( about 12.4 billion U.S. dollars) last year, according to the latest statistics released by the People's Bank of China.

????China's auto manufacturing has increased by a million vehicles in each of the last five years, according to statistics.

????Last year, the country produced about 6.2 million units compared to less than 150,000 units in 1978.

????Investment in the sector reached 100 billion yuan in 2005, double that of 2002.

????Another report published by the newspaper said during the country's 11th Five-Year (2006-2010) development period, China aims to increase its car and auto parts exports by more than 40 percent annually to reach 70 billion U.S. dollars in 2010.