General Motors' sales in China hit a record 220,996 vehicles in August, the US auto giant said Wednesday, despite an economic slowdown in the country with the world's largest car market.

GM's August sales in China rose 7.3 percent compared to the same month last year and 10.8 percent from this July, it said in a statement.

For the first eight months of this year, the company and its ventures sold more than 1.8 million units in China, up 11.2 percent year-on-year.

China's nationwide auto sales slowed last year after the government rolled back purchasing incentives and some cities imposed limits on car numbers to ease traffic congestion and cut pollution.

The southern city of Guangzhou in July set rules to limit the number of cars through a quota on the number of vehicle number plates made available by the government, following other cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

China's auto sales rose just 2.5 percent to 18.51 million units in 2011, compared with an annual increase of more than 32 percent in 2010.

But foreign brands have managed to buck the trend with better brand recognition and perceptions of better quality among domestic consumers.

GM sold more than 2.5 million vehicles in China last year.