Vehicle output in China jumped by more than two-fifths in February from the previous month, according to an industry organization.

Auto producers in China produced 433,900 vehicles in February, an increase of 44.77 per cent from that in January, according to statistics from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

"The growth in February was a normal recovery from the low output in January," said Zhu Yiping, a spokeswoman for the association.

Output in January slumped by 27.47 per cent from December because of the New Year's Holiday and the Chinese Spring Festival.

The output in February was up by 36.38 per cent from that in the same period of the previous year.

Truck output reported the biggest growth rate at 74.94 per cent to 133,900 units in February from January, statistics indicated.

Passenger car output rose by 32.85 per cent month-on-month to 189,100 units in February, according to statistics.

Bus output last month reached 111,000 units, up 37.19 per cent from January.

Total vehicle output from January to February increased by 18.82 per cent year-on-year to 733,100 units, statistics showed.

Passenger car output during the period stood at 330,900 units, an increase of 34.39 per cent from a year earlier.

The association predicted earlier this year that total vehicle output will reach 5.34 million units in 2004, including 2.62 million passenger cars.

Sales of new vehicles made in China grew by 41.43 per cent to 430,100 units in February from the previous month, according to statistics.

New passenger car sales reached 184,700 units last month, up 18.8 per cent from January.

Sales of new vehicles made in China in January and February totalled 734,300 units, an increase of 23.64 per cent from a year ago, statistics showed.

New car sales surged by 36.09 per cent year-on-year to 340,400 units during the same period.

China's top three auto producers -- First Automotive Works Corp, Dongfeng Motor Corp and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp -- sold 333,100 vehicles during the first two months of this year, accounting for 45.36 per cent of the total sales.

China imported 15,700 vehicles in January, down 6.8 per cent from December; exported 5,400 vehicles in January, down 15.27 per cent from December, statistics indicated.

(China Daily March 13, 2004)