China's imports of automobiles and parts in the first quarter dropped 44.4 percent from a year earlier in the latest sign of slumping demand growth, the Financial News said Monday.

Automotive imports in the first quarter totaled US$22.75 billion, the newspaper said.

"The drop was mainly due to the low domestic demand," the newspaper quoted a government analyst as saying.

China eliminated quotas on automobile imports from Jan. 1 in line with its World Trade Organization obligations, but car sales growth has slowed dramatically after nearly doubling in 2003.

"New models are ceaselessly entering the market and domestic automobile parts suppliers are growing, which has also led to the shrinking demand for imported vehicles," the newspaper added.

Growth in car sales in China slowed to just 15 percent last year after almost doubling in 2003, partly because the government made car loans harder to get.

Domestic automobile output in the first quarter was up only 0.87 percent from a year earlier, while sedan output dropped 6.38 percent, figures released last month showed.

China's automobile exports rose 41.2 percent to US$21 billion in the first quarter, the figures showed.

(Shenzhen Daily May 10, 2005)