Total auto sales in China rose 24.71 pct year-on-year to 5.01 mln units in the first seven months of the year, the semi-official industry association said.

The China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said in a statement that auto output in the seven-month period rose 23.3 pct from a year earlier to 5.11 mln units.

Passenger vehicle sales increased 23.73 pct year-on-year to 3.54 mln units from January to July, while sales of commercial vehicles were up 27.13 pct at 1.47 mln.

For July alone, auto sales grew 36.55 pct year-on-year to 641,000 units with passenger vehicle sales up 36.52 pct at 457,200 units and sales of commercial vehicles up 36.65 pct at 183,800 units.

The CAAM said earlier this year that total auto output and sales for this year are both expected to be over 8.5 mln vehicles, compared with 7.22 mln for 2006.