Boosting the strong export momentum of 2007, Chinese automakers exported a total of 358,000 vehicles in the first half of 2008, up 62% year on year (y/y), reported Southern Daily today, citing the latest data from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Of the auto exports from January to June, there were 200,600 passenger vehicles, up 83.37% y/y, and 157,400 commercial vehicles, up 41.04% y/y. Most of these vehicles were exported by China's independent carmakers and are China's own-brand cars.

As a matter of fact, export will become the mainstay of achieving annual sales targets for many Chinese carmakers, especially those of independent brands, amid the sales slump in the home market.

A lot of Chinese carmakers, such as Chery, Geely, Brilliance and Great Wall Motors are planning to sell more vehicles in global markets.