BEIJING -- Sales of heavy trucks in China rebounded in May as pent-up demand unleashed and the phase-out of emission-heavy vehicles spurred purchases, industry data showed.

Around 175,000 heavy trucks were sold last month, surging 62 percent year on year, according to predictions by auto industry information service provider cvworld.cn.

In the first five months, heavy truck sales amounted to over 640,000 units, up 16 percent year on year.

FAW Jiefang Automotive Co Ltd, a truck subsidiary of Changchun-headquartered FAW Group, continued to lead the market, accounting for 29.7 percent of sales during the January-May period.

As property and infrastructure construction picked up, sales of heavy trucks will see more visible recovery, a research team from Industrial Securities noted, predicting annual sales of heavy trucks to reach between 1.1 million and 1.19 million units.