BEIJING - Automakers recalled more than 20 million defective cars in China this year, hitting a new high for the fourth consecutive year, according to an official with the top quality authority.

In 2017, 20.05 million cars were recalled, up 77 percent from the previous year, said Yan Fengmin, head of the law enforcement department of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine.

The amounts of recalled vehicles were 5.59 million in 2015 and 11.34 million in 2016. "The annual growth was more than 50 percent in each of the past three years," Yan said.

China is only after the United States in the amount of recalled cars, Yan said.

In 2017, airbag and seat belt problems were the factors behind the recall of 10.64 million vehicles, 53.1 percent of the total.

Defective airbags from Japanese manufacturer Takata caused 29 automakers to recall 9.87 million vehicles in 2017 alone. In total, the issue led to the recall of 19.52 million vehicles from 38 companies, Yan said.

Since China began implementing the rule of recalling defective cars in 2004, 1,548 recalls have been announced totalling 56.74 million vehicles, he said.