The Chinese government handed out 6.41 billion yuan (972.9 million U.S. dollars) in subsidies to new car buyers under the old-for-new trade-in auto program in 2010, the Ministry of Commerce said Wednesday.

Sales of 459,000 vehicles were subsidized last year as part of the subsidy program, which spurred 49.6 billion yuan in sales of these new auto sales, the MOC said in a statement on its website.

China launched the auto trade-in subsidy program in July 2009 and began accepting old vehicles in exchange for subsidies on new vehicle purchases in order to boost new auto sales and help cut emissions.

The Ministry of Finance said on Dec. 31 that the old-for-new auto subsidy program and the promotion of auto sales in rural areas came to an end on Dec. 31. However, the government will continue to provide subsidies to promote energy-saving and new-energy vehicles.