Visitors to an international automobile fair in northeast China this year noticed a change taking place at the event: a greater number of hybrid and all-electric vehicles on display.

More than 30 models of all-electric buses, BEVs (battery electric vehicle) and new HEVs (hybrid electric vehicle) were on show at the 7th China Changchun International Automobile Fair, an eight-day event that ended Thursday.

"Only a handful of such vehicles were seen last year," said a visitor who identified himself as Liu.

To the big crowds of car enthusiasts in the exhibition hall, the new energy models were a major attraction.

An official with the automobile industrial development zone of Changchun, the host city of the fair, said local government is looking to cut energy emissions and create a "greener" city by producing and bringing more environment-friendly vehicles onto the road.

"Promoting new energy models and new car technologies at the fair is part of the government's drive to build a 'greener' city," said Li Xiangguo, director of the management committee of the development zone.

Changchun has long been known as the cradle of China's auto industry. In 1956, China produced its first self-made truck, the Jiefang, in Changchun at the First Automobile Works (FAW).

The city now is home to FAW Volkswagen Automotive Co. Ltd., a joint operation by China's FAW and German auto giants Volkswagen and Audi.

With an annual output of up to 600,000 vehicles, the company is one of the biggest car manufacturers in China, now the world's biggest car market.

The annual output of electric and hybrid cars in Changchun accounts for six percent of China's total and the number of such automobiles are expected to exceed 200,000 units by 2015, Li said.