China produced more than 3.88 million motor vehicles in the first half of the year, including 2.1 million sedans, an expert said Wednesday in Beijing.

The motor vehicle output in the first six months was up 27.78 percent year on year, and the annual output is expected to hit 7 million, according to statistics from the China Machinery Industry Federation (CMIF).

The automobile industry reported a 70-percent growth in profit during the first six months, said Zhang Xiaoyu, vice president of CMIF.

He predicted that the auto industry's profit for the whole year would reach 60 billion yuan (7.5 billion U.S. dollars), more than the amount in 2005 but still far less than the 70 billion yuan notched up in 2004.

Zhang attributed the profit leap in the first six months to lower iron and steel costs last year. But he said profits in China's automobile industry would slow in the second semester as the price of iron and steel started to rise again.

Source: Xinhua