BEIJING — Sales of Chinese-branded passenger cars saw a year-on-year decrease of 24.99 percent in the first seven months of this year, the latest industry data showed.

The sales of domestic brands reached 3.43 million units from Jan to July, accounting for 36.03 percent of the total passenger car sales, down by 3.17 percentage points from the share in the same period last year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

CAAM data showed that China's auto market maintained recovery momentum last month, as increasing demand and strengthening incentives have pushed up market growth.

China's auto market started to recover in April, thanks to unleashed pent-up demand and encouraging policies, with sales rising by 4.4 percent year-on-year.