Shanghai Auto, General Motors' main partner in China, posted a 7.8 percent rise in sales to 843,000 vehicles last year, domestic newspapers said Thursday, the year the world's third-largest auto market decelerated sharply.

Shanghai Automotive Group Co., a newly formed company that will control listed parts maker Shanghai Automotive Co., sold 617,000 cars and commanded nearly a quarter of that market last year, the Shanghai Securities News reported.

Chinese car sales slowed dramatically last year after a near-doubling to 2 million sedans in 2003. Analysts are predicting growth in nationwide sedan sales of as low as 10 percent last year.

State-run Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC) is China's top carmaker and one of a group of ambitious homegrown corporations hoping to make it big globally.

Unlisted SAIC formally unveiled the new firm to hold its auto assets in late 2004, which will serve as its public face as it pursues a long-awaited initial public offering that could raise as much as US$2 billion this year or beyond.

(Shenzhen Daily January 14, 2005)