How many automobile manufacturers are there in China?

It is a widely known fact that China has more automobile manufacturers than any other country in the world. But the exact number of manufacturers is not a figure that is readily available. The "China Automobile Industry Yearbook" reports that there were 115 automobile manufacturers in 2009, and the figure was almost flat since 1998, when there were 119. But we can name quite a few new entrants that entered the market after 1998, such as Beijing Hyundai, Tianjin Toyota, Guangzhou Toyota..to name but a few. Furthermore, when we count the manufacturers which produced more than one vehicle in 2009 that are reported in the Yearbook, it exceeds 115.
Using the raw data on automobile production gathered by China Automobile Technology Research Center (CATARC), which compiles the Yearbook, I counted the number of manufacturers one by one. To be honest, even this Center, a half-governmental body which has a strong influence on automobile manufacturers in China, does not necessarily collect the data of all the manufacturers that exist in China. The data, however, show that there were 146 manufacturers in 2009, far more than the figure reported in the Yearbook. 146 is a figure that does not include the holding companies of automobile industrial groups. The figure only includes the firms which have legal person status. Those companies which do have independent legal person status but in reality can be regarded as a factory of other companies, such as Toyota Kyushu of Toyota, are also counted in my calculation. Therefore, among the 146 firms, many are not regarded as indendent players, but in any case, the total number of manufacturers increased from 135 in 2001 to 155 in 2007, and thereafter started to decrease slowly.