As China's auto industry continues to set records, authorities at the Dalian Free Trade Zone are making plans to become a vehicle export center as well as the nation's largest international energy port, according to Lu Lin, head of the zone's administrative committee.

China is forecast to produce a record-high 12 million vehicles in 2009, Chen Bin, director of the Department of Industry under the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, said in Beijing Saturday.

The free trade zone near Dalian Port will take 10 years to become a center of vehicle production, Lu said, when it will have an annual production capacity of 1.6 million units. The auto sector is expected to contribute 8 billion yuan to annual export volume.