SHANGHAI has replaced Beijing as the largest market for used vehicles in the first five months of this year after new emission standards prompted owners to sell older cars.

About 89,000 used vehicles were sold between January and May, up 40.4 percent year on year, said the China Automobile Dealers Association.

Guangdong Province ranked second, Zhejiang Province third and Beijing finished fourth. The capital saw a 16.9 percent increase to 79,000 units from the same period of last year.

Luo Lei, deputy secretary of CADA, said Shanghai's fast expanding secondhand vehicle market was boosted by newly introduced higher emissions standard. It prompted owners to sell cars to buyers in other cities with lower standards.

Shanghai placed restrictions on high-polluting vehicles in February. The city banned them from elevated roads between 7am and 8pm to encourage the use of fuel efficient vehicles.

Among a total of 280,000 affected models, an estimated 45,000 cars were expected to be sold as they could still be used in Shanghai's suburbs or other cities. During the first five months, more than 680,000 units of second hand vehicles were sold, up 23 percent year on year, in more than 227 used car markets across the country. The total transaction value amounted to 23.3 billion yuan (US$2.87 billion), up 41.9 percent from a year ago.

Used car sales grew 47 percent to 287,500 units nationwide, almost triple the growth rate of trucks and buses.