China's heavy truck makers continue to see strong sales

BEIJING — China's heavy truck manufacturers continued to see strong sales in September amid continued stabilization of the Chinese economy and steady growth in the manufacturing sector.

Heavy truck sales surged 91 percent year-on-year to 101,100 units last month, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed.

Over the first nine months, total heavy truck sales rose 77.66 percent year-on-year to 874,600 units, according to the CAAM.

The surging sales were due to strong demand from infrastructure projects and improvement in the mining sector driven by economic growth, said Wu Dongdong, analyst at Zheshang Securities.

Heavy truck sales will remain robust in the fourth quarter with an estimated year-on-year growth of 20 percent, according to a report from Soochow Securities.

For the whole year, the heavy truck sales are expected to rise 51 percent year-on-year to exceed 1.1 million, the report said.

In September, China's manufacturing sector expanded at its fastest pace in more than five years, adding to evidence of a resilient broader economy.

The manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) for September came in at 52.4, up from 51.7 in August and 51.4 in July, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.