SHANGHAI, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Global carmakers debuted 129 new models at the ongoing Auto Shanghai 2019, said the organizer of the event on Wednesday.

Open to media since April 16, the auto show is going to lower the curtain on Thursday, when it is expected to attract a total of one million visitors, said Yang Jianrong, head of the Council for the Promotion of International Trade in Shanghai.

Over 1,000 exhibitors from 20 countries and regions have participated in the exhibition. Among over 1,500 cars exhibited, 129 made their global debut, 218 are new energy vehicles and 76 are concept cars.

"In the future, car consumption will be similar to mobile phone consumption today. New models with cutting-edge technologies and the ability to update via the cloud will enter the market with a high frequency," Yang said.

He said this auto show made its first attempt to set up a special section featuring futuristic technology and invited tech leaders and telecom firms to show how 5G, big data and artificial intelligence technologies can be used in cars.

China, as the world's biggest automobile market, has pinned hope on new energy vehicles and new tech for impetus, following last year's contraction in car sales, the first in 28 years. A total of 28.08 million vehicles were sold in 2018, down by over 4 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.