China auto sales pick up in first half

BEIJING, July 10 (Xinhua) -- Automobile sales posted strong growth in the first half of the year, despite the country's lackluster economic performance, according to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturing (CAAM) on Wednesday.

Auto sales grew by 12.34 percent year on year to 10.78 million units, 9.41 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year. Output jumped 12.83 percent to 10.75 million units, 8.75 percentage points higher than a year earlier.

About 8.67 million passenger cars were sold across the country during the January-June, up 13.81 percent from a year ago, while sales of commercial cars climbed 6.68 percent to 2.12 million units.

At a press conference held on Wednesday, Shi Jianhua, deputy secretary general of CAAM, said the cities of Tianjin, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Chengdu, Shijiazhuang, Chongqing, Qingdao and Wuhan will likely implement curbing policies for auto sales that will slash sales by 25 percent in those cities.

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