CHANGCHUN, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- FAW Jiefang Automotive Co., Ltd, a truck subsidiary of China's leading auto maker FAW Group, sold a record 291,000 Jiefang trucks in 2017, the company said Tuesday.

Of all the trucks that entered the market last year, 265,000 were medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, holding the biggest market share in China at 19.7 percent, it added.

The company exported 6,729 units of medium- and heavy-duty trucks in 2017, up by 26.7 percent annually. Among them, 1,138 units were sold to Vietnam and 460 to Russia, registering an annual growth of 108 percent and 360 percent, respectively.

This year, the company has set a goal of selling 319,800 vehicles. In order to reach the goal, more efforts will be put into research and development, and a new car model will be launched.

Founded in 1953 and headquartered in China's northeast Jilin Province, the state-owned FAW Group is known as "the cradle of China's auto industry."

Since the first Jiefang truck was rolled off the line in 1956, the brand has sold more than 6.6 million vehicles and has expanded its presence to 80 countries and regions.