China's foreign trade in motor vehicles stood at $6.16 billion in January, a bit lower than a month earlier, sources with the General Administration of Customs said on Wednesday.

The total included $2.17 billion in import value, down 23.27 percent from December 2007 but up 10.88 percent over January of last year, and $3.99 billion in export value, down 6.52 percent from a month ago but up 44.63 percent on the same month of last year.

Sources with the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said arrivals of whole vehicles kept increasing rapidly year-on-year, while import volume of engines and spare parts declined drastically from a month earlier.

In terms of export, the association sources said foreign sales of buses and cars grew rapidly over the year-ago level and export of engines and spare parts remained stable.