BEIJING - China recycled 202,000 junk vehicles last month, up 16 percent year-on-year, data from the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) showed.

The recycled motor vehicles included 171,000 cars and 31,000 motorcycles, according to a statement on the ministry's website.

During the first five months, China recycled 878,000 scrapped motor vehicles, a year-on-year growth of 21.1 percent.

Some 735,000 cars and 143,000 motorbikes were recycled during the Jan-May period, up 23.4 percent and 10.3 percent respectively.

China has been encouraging recycling of scrapped motor vehicles to promote a circular economy. Such vehicles are usually sold to remanufacturing companies.

The annual vehicle scrapping rate is 4 to 6 percent internationally, said Zhang Shuwei, director of the Department of Market System Development of the MOC, adding that China has a vast market for recycling scrapped vehicles.

The country had around 327 million motor vehicles at the end of last year, including 240 million automobiles, according to the traffic management bureau of the Ministry of Public Security.