Marginal blips in auto exports between Jan-May

Automobile export volumes remained sluggish in China from January to May despite the increase in export value, indicating the positive structural adjustment in vehicle exports, the Ministry of Commerce said on Tuesday.

China exported 33,4000 cars during the first five months, down 9.1 percent from the corresponding period a year ago. However, the export value reached $5.4 billion, up 4.2 percent and 3.6 percentage points higher than the overall foreign trade growth. Meanwhile, the unit price of car export jumped 14.7 percent.

"China's auto export mainly relies on the emerging and resource-dependent markets. Local demand in these markets dropped as the economies were hurt by the fall in oil and commodity prices. In addition, most of the local currencies underwent considerable depreciation," said Shen Danyang, a spokesman for the Ministry of Commerce.