BEIJING - China’s auto industry registered solid year-on-year growth in both output and sales in July, according to industry data.
In July alone, the country’s auto output was 2.591 million units -- a 13.3 percent year-on-year increase -- while sales grew 14.7 percent to 2.593 million units, per data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). China’s total auto output in the first seven months of the year rose 12.7 percent to 18.24 million units, with sales up 12 percent to 18.27 million units.
Commercial vehicle output last month totaled 298,000 units -- a 16.3 percent increase from the same month a year earlier -- while sales climbed 14.1 percent to 306,000 units, according to the CAAM data. Sales of natural-gas-powered vehicles, however, declined 5.9 percent year on year to 16,000 units in July. Commercial vehicle production rose 6 percent year on year to 2.4 million units in the January-July period, while sales reached 2.43 million units -- up 3.9 percent.
CAAM data has also revealed that new energy vehicle (NEV) production in the first seven months of 2025 surged 39.2 percent to over 8.23 million units, while sales jumped 38.5 percent to 8.22 million units. Monday’s data also shows that the country’s auto exports maintained steady growth momentum, with a year-on-year increase of 12.8 percent recorded during the January-July period. Notably, NEV exports during that time soared 84.6 percent to nearly 1.31 million units.
Meanwhile, China’s light industry kept growing in the first six months of 2025, continuing its momentum of recovery from late last year and registering steady progress in production in the six-month period, according to the latest official data released by China National Light Industry Council.
From January to June, the value-added of large-scale light industry enterprises rose seven percent year on year, while their total business revenue reached 11.3 trillion yuan (about 1.56 trillion US dollars), reflecting steady progress in recovery.
The policy-fueled consumer demand surged in the first half of the year, with the retail sales of 11 major light industry product categories exceeding 4.3 trillion yuan (about 590 billion US dollars), up 11.6 percent from the previous year.
The light industry is rapidly shifting toward high-end and intelligent manufacturing. Digital research and development tools are now used by 86.2 percent of large-scale light industry enterprises, enabling a large scale production of high value-added products.
Large light industry enterprises in China refer to companies with annual main business revenue of at least 20 million yuan.