Shoppers look at a car display at a store in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. In June, 1,289,665 passenger vehicles were sold in China, an increase of 12.3 percent year-on-year. [SHI JIANXUE / FOR CHINA DAILY]

China's passenger vehicle sales maintained stable double-digit growth in the first half, raising industry hopes of improvement in the remainder of the year.

First-half sales of cars, sport utility vehicles, multi-purpose vehicles and minivans jumped 16.7 percent year-on-year to 8,178,417 units, the China Passenger Car Association said on Friday.

In June, which is usually a slow time for the industry because of a lower number of working days, the Dragon Boat festival and national entrance examinations for universities, 1,289,665 passenger vehicles were delivered to local consumers, up 12.3 percent year-on-year.

Though sales dipped 3.4 percent from May, the market performance "was actually better and indicated an upward trend for the coming month," said Rao Da, secretary-general of the association.

"More important, looking back to the first half, except February, monthly sales all showed strong double-digit growth, demonstrating that China's automobile market is on track to healthy and sustainable development," said Rao.

He also expressed optimism about sales in July and the second half overall.

"China's new leadership is leveraging a stable economy policy, without stimulus packages this year. This might have a slightly negative impact on the vehicle market.

"However, from a long-term perspective, it supports the sustainability of the sector," said Rao.

He said month-on-month sales growth in July would probably be unusually high "as there are more working days and the market is rebounding".

"Continuously increasing sales will ease the inventory build-up at dealers, which followed a sudden slowdown last year," he added.