At least 17 million new cars were added on the Chinese road last year, further cementing China's reputation as the world's largest automobile market, data released by the Ministry of Public Security showed.

With the new cars added last year, the ministry said the total number of passenger cars in China now stands at 117 million, with 90 percent of the total being private cars.

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The capital, Beijing, has the highest private car penetration, with 63 vehicles for every 100 households while the national average is 25 private vehicles for every 100 households, the ministry stressed.

It was also in 2014 that automobile became the main method of transportation in the country, replacing motorcycle that has been the leader for years, thanks to strong demand for cars.

According to government data, cars made up about 59 percent of the total motor vehicles running on Chinese roads, a significant rise from 44 percent five years ago.

With the number of new cars increasing significantly last year, the number of Chinese individuals securing driving licenses also soared from 219 million in 2013 to 247 million as of the end of last year, the ministry said.

In China, the ministry added, 29.7 million drivers have at least one year driving experience.

As this developed, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said auto sales in the country rose 6.9% year-on-year in 2014 with 23.49 million cars sold.

The CAAM report, however, showed that the car sales growth in 2014 fell from the 13.9 percent growth registered in 2014 due to economic downturn and sluggish growth in the commercial cars market.

CAAM predicted that vehicles sales in China this year could hit 25.13 million units, representing a 7 percent growth from last year.

Passenger cars topped the sales last year with 19.7 million units sold. Commercial cars came in at 3.79 million units, a 6.53 percent decline from 2013.

TagsChina cars, China Automobile, China manufacturing