Guangzhou Bus (GAAC), Guilin-Daewoo, Quick Bus, Shanghai Wanxiang Automobile

According to Chinese government statistics there were 13 producers of large buses and 17 producers of medium sized buses and coaches in China in 1999. Annual production of large vehicles is around 6,000 to 7,000. The number of medium-sized vehicles seems to fluctuate a lot; in 1998 some 15,000 were sold, in 1999 around 25,000. Import of complete vehicles is negligible, a few hundred per year. Shanghai Bus Manufacturing Co. and Changzhou Changjiang Bus Group are the leading two companies in the large bus market.
Bus production in China started in the 1950's and was centrally controlled. There were few models and all were rather basic. Over the last 10 to 15 years the 30 or so factories under the 3 administrative groups have gained more independence and developed their own vehicles, using their own brand names. This creates rather complicated relationship. For example, Taihu Bus is a brand name of the Wuxi Automobile Factory of the China FAW Group Corporation. FAW is First Automobile Works, the umbrella company that started in the 1950's. Because of these complex relationships, there are probably more brand names than the 30 suggested by the number of official factories.
Another group of companies is evolving out of military factories, many of which are turning to civil production and introducing brand names. Some examples are given under the Guizhou chapter. One can also see buses produced by the military factories for their own use or for special purposes. One such bus, used as a blood donation vehicle, is shown here. It was produced by the Qingdao 4406 Factory. These numbered factories were set up by the military, mostly in the 1960's and 1970's. As their production was secret, almost nothing is known about them.
Mentioned in the first China update were the joint ventures between foreign companies and Chinese factories. These joint ventures have added a number of bus factories to the list. Volvo for example entered into an agreement with aircraft manufacturer Xi'an Silver which now produces Volvo buses in China.
Guangzhou Bus
This company mainly builds city buses, many of which are used in its home town Guangzhou, or Canton as it is still known by many people outside China. The city is not far north of Hong Kong and is the capital of Guangdong Province. Guangzhou Bus was one of the major bus factories in China since the 1950's and for years produced the typical Chinese basic city bus. But the company also was on the forefront of innovation when it came to the introduction of all steel buses, one-man-operated buses, trolley buses and double deckers. Already during the 1980's Guangzhou Bus built quite acceptable bus designs. It seems that the company suffered from heavy competition during the 1990's and unlike other bus builders had difficulties making the transition to really modern buses such as low-floor designs. While still being number 5 in numbers produced in China, it faced financial problems. In 2000 it entered into a joint venture with Isuzu from Japan, establishing Guangzhou Isuzu Bus Co Ltd in part of the factory. Production of the Isuzu Gala coach, the Gala Mio mid-sized coach and the LT city bus started here in 2000.
During the mid 1990's many second hand vehicles were imported into Guangzhou, among others ex Hong Kong and Berlin double deckers and ex Pittsburgh Neoplans. Those were however quickly replaced by large fleets of Chinese buses built by, among others, Guangzhou Bus and Eagle. The main bus companies in Guangzhou are the "Guangzhou Number 1 Bus Company", the "Guangzhou Number 2 Bus Company", the "Guangzhou Number 3 Bus Company" and the "Guangzhou Trolleybus Company". Recently more companies have been added, some of which have more prosaic names such as the "Guang Zhou Jockey Club Company Ltd". In other cities, such as Senzhen and Zhuhai, one can also find many Guangzhou Bus buses.
Guyiang City and the Guizhou Bus Factory
Another important regional bus factory is the Guizhou Bus Factory, located in the city of Guyiang, capital of Guizhou Province in South-Western China. Guiyang city is a regional transportation center, with railways, road and air transport all being important. The history of Guiyang goes back some 600 years. During the Ming Dynasty it was the only entrance to the other provinces in southwest China.
Guizhou province had a large number of military factories since the 1960s. But after the reforms in China, the opening up of the country to foreign influence and trade, and also with the end of the cold war, most of the military factories turned to civil production. Products include car equipment, electronics, aircraft parts and automobiles. Most of the car factories are based on the military and aerospace technology industrial groups. Often these factories reach an agreement with a foreign company for the transfer of technology. An example of such a product is the Yunque, a small car using technology of Subaru in Japan. The most famous bus brand is Yunma. This factory, based in the third largest city of Guizhou Province, Ansun, used to produce fighter planes. There are several bus industries in the city of Guiyang: Guizhou Bus Factory, Wanda, Xingqian, and Zhucheng. The products include minibuses, city buses, express buses and the tourist buses. The Guizhou Bus Factory builds mainly city buses and staff buses.
Guilin-Daewoo
As a contrast to Guangzhou Bus and the Guizhou Bus Factory, Guilin-Daewoo was chosen as the third company for this chapter. Guilin-Daewoo is a joint venture between Guilin from China and Daewoo from South Korea. Daewoo provides technology and parts. The modern coaches are imported complete from Korea, but other buses and coaches are built up in China. Two models are prominently present, the long distance coach and the double-deck sleeper coach. The latter is a typical Chinese vehicle with two layers of metal berths on both sides of the bus on which people can lay down and sleep.