BERLIN - Mercedes-Benz sold more than 70,000 passenger cars in May and achieved a double-digit growth in China, German carmaker Daimler announced on Tuesday.

"The retail sales in our biggest market China provide us with optimism," said Britta Seeger, member of the board of management of Daimler and Mercedes Benz, responsible for sales and marketing.

Daimler's core brand would get "step by step back to normality." After a production suspension caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Mercedes-Benz car plants had successfully restarted production.

From June onwards, all Mercedes-Benz plants worldwide would be gradually restarted, according to Daimler.

Last week, the German carmaker announced that global deliveries to car dealers in May were down 28.6 percent compared with the same month last year, with almost 135,000 passenger cars of the Mercedes-Benz brand sold worldwide.