BANGKOK — Auto sales in China stalled in July, falling 5 percent from a year earlier, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Friday, but exports rose about 20 percent as electric vehicle makers expanded into global markets.

Passenger car sales totaled around 2 million units, of which around 1.6 million were sold in China, a decrease of 10% year-on-year. Total passenger car exports increased by more than 20% to 399,000 units.

More than half of all vehicles sold were so-called “New Energy Vehicles”, i.e. electric and plug-in hybrids.

Chinese automakers have increased vehicle exports as demand in their home market has fallen, and the United States and European Union have increased tariffs, arguing that government subsidies offered by Beijing gave Chinese automakers an unfair advantage.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Friday that it had submitted the provisional tariffs imposed in early July to the World Trade Organization’s dispute settlement mechanism.

“The EU’s preliminary decision lacks any factual and legal basis, seriously violates WTO rules and undermines the overall situation of global cooperation in combating climate change,” the ministry said in a statement on its website.

“We call on the EU to immediately correct its wrong practices and jointly maintain the stability of China-EU economic and trade cooperation and the supply chain of the electric vehicle industry,” it said.

To boost demand, counteract slowing economic growth and promote cleaner transport, China has expanded incentives to encourage drivers to trade in their older petrol or diesel cars and buy electric vehicles.

While overall auto sales remain sluggish, electric vehicle sales rose nearly 30% year-on-year to around 991,000 in July. Of these, 887,000 were sold in China and 103,000 were exported.

Sales of foreign automakers have stagnated or even declined this year, suggesting intense price competition in an oversaturated market.

Chinese automakers’ share of total auto sales has grown rapidly, accounting for two-thirds of all vehicle sales in July, with sales of their vehicles increasing by 10 percent, the report said.

Most vehicles sold in China between January and July cost between 100,000 and 150,000 yuan (about $14,000 and $20,500), the industry association said. The largest share of electric vehicles sold cost between 150,000 and 200,000 yuan ($20,500 and $28,000).

Chinese automakers Chery Automobile, SAIC Motor and Geely Auto Group still export more vehicles, most of them with conventional gasoline engines, than electric car makers such as BYD and Tesla. However, the latter is rapidly gaining market share. BYD exported 31,000 electric cars and hybrids in July, while Tesla’s exports totaled 28,000, the report said.

In the first seven months of the year, BYD exported 2.38 million electric vehicles, while Tesla exported 1.76 million, it said.

The lion’s share of Chinese auto exports went to Russia this year, the report said, citing customs figures. Russia imported 478,000 Chinese-made vehicles in the first half of the year, almost all with conventional internal combustion engines. Mexico imported the second most vehicles with 226,000, followed by Brazil with 171,000.

The data source in this story has been corrected to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.