China saw an explosive growth of imported vehicles in the first five months of this year on an increasing demand in the country's auto market. If the growth can be maintained, volume of the imported autos for 2011 is likely to exceed one million units, Xu Changming, director of economic research for the State Information Center said recently. In January-May this year, volume of imported autos in China grew 184% from last year's 110,000 units to 300,000 units, of which 244,000 units were registered, an increase of 94.6% from a year earlier. The volume of China's exported autos in the same period was only 130,000-190,000 units, up 52% year on year, according to data released by China Automobile Trading Co., Ltd..Moreover, the data shows that volume of imported sedans, SUVs, MPVs and other types of vehicles in China all saw a substantial increase in the first half of this year, in particular the first two types. In January-May 2010, volume of registered sedans and SUVs rose 107.6% and 93% respectively. With a year-on-year growth of 54.9%, SUV still leads in China's imported car market. The European cars also reported strong growth in China's auto imports in the first five months of this year, with the total volume of imports rising 237.2% from last year's 61,000 units to 205,000 units, thanks to a 15.7% depreciation in the euros. China only imported 107,000 vehicles from Japan in the first five months of this year, up 127.4% year on year. Apart from that, China imported a large volume of luxury cars during the first half, with the registered volume growing 133.7%. The total registered volume of imported autos for 2010 is expected to reach around 560,000 units, Xu added.