BEIJING, July 8 (Reuters) - Car sales in China extended their falls for a ninth consecutive month in June, as automakers increasingly turned to export markets to cushion the impact of sluggish domestic demand.

Passenger vehicle sales at home fell 23.4% from a year earlier to 1.62 million units last month, following a 22.3% decline in May, data from the China Passenger Car Association showed on Wednesday.

By comparison, car exports rallied 82.1% to 882,000 vehicles last month.

First-half sales were down 20.4% to 8.8 million vehicles while car exports rose 70.6% to 4.28 million vehicles.