The Chinese government has issued guidelines urging the nation's automakers to establish quality accountability mechanism to improve quality supervision, Xinhua News reported yesterday.

Auto companies are warned against blind expansion, and asked to focus more on technology upgrade and improve product quality by using "new technology, new techniques, new equipment and new materials," China's Ministry of Information and Technology said in a statement yesterday.

Auto producers were also asked to strengthen after-sale service, setting up an accountability mechanism to timely recall and deal with the faulty products.

The ministry said that automaker also should strengthen their after-sales service, set up an accountability mechanism for the timely recall and handling of faulty products. They should focus on controlling costs rather than guaranteeing quality.

Industry data shows that China's new auto sales rose more than 46% last year to 13.64 million, helping the country overtake the United States as the world's largest auto market.

As China's auto industry is at a stage of rapid development, it should take effective measures to ensure product quality, so as to prompt the industry to develop in a sound and healthy way.