BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's automotive market contracted in 2018, the country's top auto industry association said on Monday, marking the first time sales have hit reverse since the 1990s.

Shi Jianhua, senior official at the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM), made the comment on Monday at a news briefing to announce the industry's December sales data.

He also said that CAAM expected carmakers to face fiercer competition in 2019.

(Reporting by Yilei Sun in Beijing and Brenda Goh in Shanghai; Editing by Himani Sarkar)

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