After an initial surge of sales in April in China, new data has seen a drop in purchases in May, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Vehicle sales for May1 to 10 fell 14 per cent to 351,000, according to the data, that compares with 2.07 million sales in April.

Sales for January to April, fell 31 per cent to 5.76 million, showing the dramatic impact Covid-19 has had in China.