The combined volume of Chinese imported vehicles stood at 4.38 billion U.S. dollars from January to May, a decrease of 30.3 percent from a year earlier, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said Thursday.

China imported a total number of 116,000 units of vehicles in the first five months this year, down 31.9 percent year on year.

For May alone, China imported less than 24,000 vehicles, about 2,000 units less from April.

The GAC attributed the trend partly to the purchase tax cut policy for Chinese consumers who buy small-capacity cars and the global economic slowdown.

China in January halved the purchase tax on passenger cars to 5 percent for models with engine displacements of less than 1.6 liters.

GAC figures showed that more than 60 percent of Chinese imported vehicles belonged to those with engine displacements of more than 2.5 liters.

China's exports and imports shrank for the seventh month in a row in May as economic downturn continued to dampen global trade. Exports fell 26.4 percent in May from a year earlier to 88.758 billion U.S. dollars. Imports were down 25.2 percent to 75.37 billion U.S. dollars.

(Xinhua News Agency June 11, 2009)