BEIJING, Dec. 4 (Kyodo) — Honda Motor Co. said Tuesday its new car sales in China fell 29.2 percent in November from a year earlier to 41,205 units, narrowing the margin of decline from 53.5 percent in October as it recovers from the fallout of anti-Japanese protests in China in September.

Nissan Motor Co. said its new car sales in the country fell 29.8 percent in November on year to 79,500 units, improving from a 40.7 percent decrease in the previous month.

The announcements by the two automakers followed similar reports of business improvements by Toyota Motor Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. in China in November.

Japanese automakers resumed sales campaigns in China, the world’s largest auto market, around mid-October as anti-Japan sentiment apparently subsided.

They posted sharp falls in sales in China after the Japanese government purchased part of the Senkaku Islands from a private Japanese owner in September, a move that sparked anti-Japan demonstrations in China.

The islets in the East China Sea are administered by Japan but claimed by China as Diaoyu and Taiwan as Tiaoyutai.

During demonstrations in September, some protesters vandalized sales outlets of Japanese carmakers and attacked Japanese cars on the streets in several Chinese cities.

Sales of Japanese cars in China fell 59.4 percent in October from a year earlier to 98,900 units, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. It was the first time that single-month sales of Japanese cars in China have dropped below 100,000 units since 2009.

Accordingly, Japanese carmakers’ share of the Chinese market dropped from 20.2 percent in June, the top among foreign automakers, to 7.6 percent in October.