In contrast to slumping sales in developed markets, auto sales in China continued to rise in April from the previous month, according to an official at the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Sales last month likely rose to a record monthly high of 1.15 million units, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Thursday, citing estimates from CAAM.

The official, who declined to be named, wouldn't confirm the figure in the Xinhua report. CAAM is expected to issue April's sales figures Monday.

China's previous monthly auto sales record was set in March, when sales rose 5% from a year earlier to 1.11 million units. If the figure in the Xinhua report is accurate, sales in April would have risen 25% from April 2008's sales of 922,600 units.

April would also mark the third consecutive month of growth for China's auto market, which started to recover in February. Before February, China's auto sales had fallen in five of the previous six months on a year-on-year basis, according to CAAM data.

Xinhua said government policies aimed at spurring demand for smaller vehicles likely boosted sales.

China halved the purchase tax on vehicles with engines of 1.6 liters and under earlier this year, and it is also offering subsidies to rural residents.

However, it isn't only small cars that are selling well in China.

Audi AG (NSU.XE) said Thursday its sales in China and Hong Kong rose 21% from a year earlier in April to 12,156 units, a monthly record for the company, boosted by the newly released long version of its A4 sedan.

Sales of the model, available in China with 2.0 liter and 3.2 liter engines, rose 78% from a year earlier to 3,003 units, the company said in a statement.

China's auto market is proving to be an oasis for some global auto makers whose home markets are weak.

General Motors Corp. (GM) said Tuesday its China sales rose 50% in April from a year earlier to 151,084 units, boosted by two new models and brisk sales of its smaller vehicles.

Sales at Ford Motor Co.'s (F) passenger auto joint venture in China, Changan Ford Mazda Automobile Co., rose 33% in April from a year earlier to 25,882 units, its Chinese partner, Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. (000625.SZ), said earlier this week.

In contrast, auto sales in the U.S. fell 34% in April from a year earlier, according to market research firm Autodata Corp.

-By Patricia Jiayi Ho, Dow Jones Newswires; (8610) 6588 5848; patricia.ho@dowjones.com