GM China, the Chinese subsidiary of the U.S. car-maker General Motors, said Friday its 2010 first-half-year sales of vehicles in China increased by 48.5 percent over the same period last year.

Statistics provided by the car-maker showed that it sold a total of 1.21 million vehicles in China from January to June of this year. In a separate release, GM said Friday it sold 1.07 million cars in the U.S. market during the first two quarters.

It means GM has sold more cars in China than it did in the United States during the first half of 2010, the first time that has ever happened.

June sales of Shanghai GM, GM's joint venture with Chinese auto giant Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation, rose 18.9 percent to 71,782 units. SGMW, a joint venture GM set up with SAIC Motor and Liuzhou Wuling Motors, reported sales of 99,115 in June, up 19.7 percent year on year.

Among GM's brands in China, Chevrolet was the top seller in June with sales of 38,304 units, up 43.3 percent from the previous year; Cadillac saw the fastest growth in sales in June, soaring by 171.3 percent to 1,812 units from a year earlier, said GM China.

In January 2010, official figures confirmed that China had overtaken the United States to become the world's top auto maker and market in 2009, boosted by government stimulus measures.