兩年一度的北京國際車展，即將在明天開幕。中國本土廠商的進步，讓國際媒體也大加讚揚。可在商務部提出中國擬取消外方在汽車合資企業中佔股比 50% 限制的新挑戰下下，中國本土車企是否會因此失去競爭力呢？

史蒂文老師邀請了兩位業內好友 -- 大學學長、世界最大車企的前中層管理者，和高中死黨、上汽資深工程師，分別站在合資企業的外方和本土車企的不同角度，來談談他們對此問題的個人看法。來自業內的聲音，附在文末。

每天清晨15分鐘，史蒂文老師帶你喝一杯經濟學人濃縮咖啡，瞭解天下事，掌握核心詞。

這是 Economist Espresso 欄目的第67篇精選文章：

● 聽和讀，記要點

Domestic chores: Beijing’s motor show

The world’s big carmakers and their Chinese counterparts are on the same road: to China’s flagship motor show, which opens this week.

It will give another indication that global carmaking’s centre of gravity is shifting to the world’s largest car market. Western carmakers, which depend heavily on China, will show plenty of new models to lure the country’s growing middle class.

But what will draw the most interest is the progress of domestic firms, such as Geely, SAIC and GAC. Dominant at the cheaper end of the market, these firms have improved quality from awful to surprisingly good. As they get better, their prospects of growing at home as well as exporting increases.

But first they must get more competitive. China’s recent pledge to lift a 50% cap on foreign participation in joint ventures is a fork in the road that may isolate them from partner brands on which they have relied for profits.

● 給文中的 TOEFL / SAT 單詞標註中文註釋

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