General Motors Corp.'s (GM) sales in China rose 38% in the first half from a year earlier to a record 814,442 units, the company said Wednesday.

"Vehicle sales in China are expected to remain strong in the second half of 2009," Kevin Wale, GM China Group president, said, adding new models will boost sales.

First-half sales by GM's commercial-vehicle joint venture in China, SAIC-GM-Wuling Automobile Co., rose 49.9% from a year earlier to 524,598 units, the U.S. auto maker said in a statement. It didn't give year-earlier figures.

Sales by its passenger-vehicle joint venture, Shanghai General Motors Corp., reached 288,843 units, it said. The statement didn't say how that compared with the venture's sales in the first half last year.

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