Downward pressures on the world’s largest auto market extended into May with a further slowdown in sales, continuing the decline of the year’s first four months.

Sales of passenger cars decreased 24% in the first week of May from a year ago, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA). Transactions between automakers and dealers fell 44% year on year, the CPCA said.

The May drop extends a 21.4% decline in auto sales during the first four months this year, following the first annual drop last year in more than two decades.

Weakening sales in the auto market dragged down China’s overall consumption. The China’s total social retail sales rose 7.2% in April, down 1.5 percentage points from the previous year and is the lowest reading since June 2003, according to the National Statistics Bureau on Wednesday.

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