While the latest sales figure remained weak, the pace of decline has decelerated given that their overall sales plunged 52 percent to 430,947 units in the first half of this year from 808,359 a year ago.

Company officials attributed the tepid performance to the fallout from the strained ties caused by the deployment of the US anti-missile system, called THAAD, in South Korea earlier this year.

"The prolonged sales slump lowered the operating rate of factories, dealing a heavy blow to contractors and dealerships," a company official said. "It would take some time to fully normalize business in China."

In a summit Thursday, leaders of the two nations agreed to put diplomatic relations back on track and step up economic cooperation. (Yonhap)