China's auto production and sales pick up

Beijing (CNS) -- After experiencing a downward trend for several months, production and sales by China's auto industry are showing signs of a rebound.

In March, vehicle production numbers hit 1,880,600, with year-on-year growth of 3.4 percent, while vehicle sales reached 1,838,600 units, up 1.0 percent from last year, according to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) on Wednesday.

For the first quarter, China's auto production and sales numbers were respectively 4,784,200 and 4,792,700, down 1.8 percent and 3.4 percent from last year.

The slight decline was mainly due to fact that the 2011 figure was considerably high, a source from the CAAM analyzed.

In addition, China's auto imports in the first quarter hit 191,300 units, 21 percent higher than 2011, marking a steady growth.