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General Motors Corp. (GM) said Wednesday its first-half sales in China rose 38% to a record 814,442 units, underlining the importance of the Chinese auto market to the U.S. car maker as it works to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings at home.

GM's figures in the January-June period were helped by sales of small autos, and GM China Group President Kevin Wale said new models will boost sales in the second half.

"Vehicle sales in China are expected to remain strong in the second half of 2009," he said.

"The market benefited from stimulus policies adopted by the Chinese government as well as growing demand for personal transportation in tier-three and tier-four cities and rural areas," Wale added.

In January, China halved the purchase tax on small cars to 5% and also introduced a subsidy program for rural residents who scrap old, pollutive vehicles and buy new ones.

Sales at GM's commercial-vehicle joint venture, SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co., rose 49.9% from a year earlier to 524,598 units, the U.S. firm said without giving year-earlier figures.

The joint venture sold 295,789 Wuling Sunshine minivans, more than all the models sold at GM's passenger-vehicle joint venture, Shanghai General Motors Corp. First-half sales at Shanghai GM totaled 288,843 units, an increase of 20.8% from a year earlier, the company said.

Sales of the venture's best-selling Buick brand jumped 34% from a year earlier to 195,989 units.

GM owns 34% of SAIC-GM-Wuling Auto. The company is 50%-owned by SAIC Motor Corp. (600104.SH) and 16% by Wuling Automobile Co. Shanghai GM is a 50-50 a joint venture with SAIC.

The statement didn't give data for June's sales alone. The auto maker's sales from March to May outpaced growth in China's auto industry; in May, GM's sales rose 75% while sales in the overall industry rose 34%.

The U.S. company has said it aims to double annual sales in China to 2 million units in five years. It sold 1,094,561 units in 2008, an increase of 6%.

Auto sales in China in the first five months of this year rose 14% from a year earlier to 4.96 million units, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Data for June aren't available yet.

-By Patricia Jiayi Ho, Dow Jones Newswires; (8610) 6588 5848; patricia.ho@dowjones.com