The development of the automobile industry, along with two more pillar industries, will be prioritized this year in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province, to drive local economic growth, according to a government work report.

Because of expected slower growth in exports, the booming southern city will focus more on investment and development of the three main industries, including auto manufacturing, petrochemical and electronic information, to maintain economic growth, according to the report.

The report was delivered by Chen Jianhua, mayor of Guangzhou, during the annual local people's congress, which opened on Tuesday.

Guangzhou's economy is expected to grow by 10 percent and its exports will increase only by 3 percent year-on-year in 2014, according to Chen.

"Export growth will be slower. We will give priority to transforming the economic structure this year and focus on large investments in key projects and expanding the pillar industries," said Chen.

The combined output value of the three pillar industries in Guangzhou increased by 16.3 percent year-on-year in 2013, according to the report.

Guangzhou Automobile Group, which owns the joint-stock companies of Guangzhou Honda Automobile Co Ltd and Guangzhou Toyota Motor Co Ltd, became one of the world's top 500 companies in 2013.

The group sold more than 1 million vehicles in 2013, an increase of 41.05 percent year-on-year, sources with the company said.

The company source said the recovery of the domestic auto industry and a stable performance by the Chinese economy had helped drive its business growth.

The city will introduce a number of new automobile projects in 2014, according to the government work report.

Also, the city will accelerate mergers and the restructuring of auto companies and speed up integration of the auto industrial chain this year, according to the report.

A blue paper on Guangzhou's auto industrial development, which was released by the Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences in December, indicated the city's auto exports also saw an increase last year.

However, the paper said Guangzhou's auto industry might be affected by unstable relations between China and Japan in the near future because most auto companies in Guangzhou are jointly invested by Japanese car makers.

Following a dispute over the Diaoyu Islands between China and Japan, the output value of Guangzhou's auto industry dropped by 6.3 percent year-on-year in 2012, according to the paper.

"If the auto industry is affected by China-Japan relations, the local economy will be greatly affected because the auto industry has become one of the three pillar industries for the city," said Peng Peng, a senior researcher at the Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences.

Peng urged local auto companies to give priority to developing more self-innovated brands to ward off the possible negative effects brought about by unstable China-Japan relations.

"More self-innovated brands and energy-saving vehicles are needed in the auto industry to maintain sustainable growth," said Peng.

According to Peng, the output value of Guangzhou's auto industry will exceed 650 billion yuan ($107 billion) by 2015.

Currently, the value of the auto industry accounts for about one-quarter of Guangzhou's gross domestic product, according to Peng.

"In addition to developing more self-innovated brands and environmentally friendly cars, Guangzhou needs to ship more vehicles overseas and develop joint ventures with car makers outside Japan," Peng said.