BEIJING - China's used car sales climbed 7.4 percent in September from a year earlier, according to a report from the China Automobile Dealers Association.

A total of 1.31 million used cars changed hands in September, the report said.

In the January-September period, 10.59 million used cars were traded, up 4.3 percent year-on-year.

The growth rate of second-hand car sales was 14.6 percentage points faster than that of the new car sales in the first three quarters.

The ratio of used car sales against new car sales rose to 0.58 percent in the first nine months from 0.49 in 2018.

Thanks to the abolition of the policy of restricting the relocation of second-hand vehicles, the total number of second-hand vehicles transferred to other places hit 3.07 million, accounting for 29 percent of the total used car sales, and the ratio was 3.6 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

The second-hand car market continues to be active, hedging the downward pressure of new car consumption and becoming a new driving force to stimulate car consumption, according to the report.