AUTO sales in China grew at the slowest pace in three years in 2015 as demand fell in the world’s largest car market, data from an industry association showed Tuesday.

    About 24.59 million automobiles were sold in 2015, a year-on-year increase of 4.7 percent, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

    The growth followed a 6.9 percent rise in 2014 and a 13.9 percent gain in 2013.

    More encouraging for Chinese carmakers was the fact that 21.1 million passenger vehicles were sold in 2015, rising 7.3 percent year on year. The CAAM expects 700,000 new energy vehicles to be sold in 2016.(Xinhua)