Susan Osman invites guests to discuss the status quo in China's car industry, where severe road congestion and pollution weigh against a promising market in need of careful analysis.

The rapid expansion of China's auto sector may be good news for carmakers, but not so good for drivers. In Beijing, there are nearly 4 million cars, and that number is growing by the minute. As a result, congestion is becoming a routine part of daily life, creating pressure for drivers and passengers alike - and sometimes even leading to incidents of road rage.

The city's traffic watchdog says during rush hour, the average car speed on some major roads has plummeted to less than 4 miles hour, making Beijing the slowest city in China - and walking a viable option.

During the 2008 Olympics cars were restricted to driving every second day to reduce traffic and pollution. The system worked according to whether the last digit of their license plate was odd or even. Since then, in an attempt to ease traffic congestion, the city has been operating a similar policy which restricts cars from driving one day out of five - also based on their license plate numbers.

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China faces some huge environmental problems, from polluted air and toxic rivers to finding enough space for landfills. But efforts are underway to turn the tide by cleaning up heavy industry.

As China's economy continues to expand, the demand for energy grows. China is the world's fastest growing consumer of power. The country produces almost 45% of the world's total coal output, using more than half of this to produce electricity. And that plays a big part in China's pollution problems.

But initiatives on a local level are starting to have an impact. At a recent conference in Gansu province, in the North West of China, officials claimed that energy saving projects were already starting to bring benefits to the region. The announcement came following a conference on Resource Saving and Environmental Protection.

With traffic and environmental problems in China not set to go away anytime soon, urban planners here are increasingly turning to public transport as a way to manage some of the less desirable effects of the country’s breakneck urbanization. However, each of the traditional forms of public transportation we’re all familiar with has its drawbacks, forcing those planners to make tough tradeoffs between cost and efficiency. One Beijing inventor claims to have come up with a solution though, an entirely new kind of vehicle that might change the game for urban transport as we know it.

As the opening day of the 2010 World Exposition draws ever closer preparations in the city of Shanghai have moved into high gear. But as far as cars moving around the city are concerned you're more likely to be in low gear as already bad traffic congestion gets worse by the day. Now city officials and traffic experts are working hard to resolve this.

How do you get millions of Shanghai commuters to their jobs - and millions of tourists to the World Expo? Well, as the opening day of World Exposition 2010 on May 1st looms, that's just the question members of Shanghai's Municipal Committee have posed themselves. And they've come up with a number of innovative solutions aimed at achieving both goals.

Committee member - Zuo Xuejin – has suggested staggering office hours so Shanghai residents can go to work at different time to avoid traffic peaks.

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Now traffic congestion is a problem in cities the world over. But as the mega-city of Beijing battles gridlock and ever lengthening rush hour traffic – boosting public transport use is being given priority.

Beijing's appalling traffic has long been a source of irritation for local residents. But increasing affluence, and a growing middle class, means that car ownership remains something many here in China aspire to.

Now Beijing's mayor says he wants more people out of cars, and back onto public transport. Speaking at the city's annual legislative session, Guo Jinlong, set a target of 40% of city dwellers commuting on public transport by 2010.