Reuters reports that data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed that vehicle sales in China fell 3% in May from the same month a year earlier, snapping a streak of 13 consecutive months of gains since April 2020.

Overall sales in the world's biggest car market totaled 2.13 million vehicles in May.

China sold 10.88 million vehicles between January and May, up 36% from the same period a year earlier.

A global chip shortage and surging raw material prices are having an increasing impact on automakers in the country, said Chen Shihua, senior official at CAAM.

But Chen said CAAM remains cautiously positive about the sector's outlook. The industry body earlier expected China's overall vehicle sales to grow 6.5% this year.