China manufactured 3.9 million automobiles and sold 3.7 million in the year's first three quarters, up 19.3 percent and 18.4 percent over the same period last year, according to figures from the China Automotive Industry Association.

"This indicates that the growth trend of the production and sale of automobiles remains stable," said Zhu Yiping, director of the association's information sector.

In September, China produced 437,100 and sold 439,100, up 15.9 and 14.4 percent from August.

"But judging from the production and sale trends in the nine months, we can conclude that their increase rates have obviously slowed down," Zhu said. General production and sales, though, have kept a stable increase in momentum, he said.

"The increase rate for sedan sales has also obviously decreased, a sign that the Chinese have grown to buy sedans in a rational way, " he said.

From January to September, domestic auto producers repeatedly cut prices to fight for bigger market shares. According to an analysis by "Internet Auto Market," 223 types of automobiles have lowered their prices at an average 2.73 percent in September.

(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2004)