Toyota China output down 61 percent in Oct

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TOKYO, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Toyota Motor Corp., citing the Sino-Japan territorial dispute, said Thursday its October production in China dropped 61.1 percent year-on-year to 30,591 units.

The Japanese automaker said sales in China, the world's largest auto market, had slowed because of the dispute, Kyodo News reported.

The dispute relates to the Senkaku Islands in East China Sea, which both countries claim. Tensions have heightened since Japan nationalized the uninhabited but reportedly resource-rich islands in September.

Since then there have been widespread protests in several Chinese cities to assert Chinese claims, leading to boycott of Japanese goods. The dispute has affected bilateral trade estimated at $340 billion annually and Japan's export-reliant economy.

Kyodo said Nissan Motor Co.'s production in China was down 44 percent year-on-year to 61,360 units in October while that of Honda Motor Co. was off 54.2 percent to 26,302 units.