Sales of China-made automobiles rose at a slower pace in May amid sluggish economic growth in the world's largest motor vehicle market, an industrial group announced on Sunday.

Sales growth in May decelerated to 9.8 percent compared with the same period last year from April's 13.4 percent with a total of 1.76 million vehicles sold last month, China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) data showed.

In the first five months of 2013, sales in China reached 9.03 million units, up 12.6 percent year on year, according to the figures.

Total sales of passenger vehicles by Chinese brands reached 550,800 units in May, down 3.6 percent from April, accounting for 39.4 percent of passenger vehicle sales.

Total sales of passenger vehicle by Japanese brands in Jan-May suffered a 11.5 percent decline year on year while sales of those by German, American, ROK and French brands all recorded growth above 20 percent year on year.

CAAM predicts that China's automobile sales and production in the first half of 2013 will keep growth rates above 10 percent.