BEIJING, July 15 -- Sales of Chinese-brand passenger vehicles grew 22.4 percent year on year in the first half of the year (H1), industry data showed.

About 5.99 million Chinese-brand passenger vehicles were sold in the first six months, accounting for 53.1 percent of the country's total passenger-car sales during the period, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

In June alone, sales of domestic auto brands rose 21.2 percent year on year to about 1.21 million units, the data showed.

The sales made up 53.1 percent of the country's total passenger-car sales last month, up 8.4 percentage points from the same period last year.