BEIJING (AFP) -- With a mere 1.9 percent of the world's cars, China now clocks up 15 percent of global deaths on the roads, state media reported Saturday quoting Ministry of Public Safety figures.

In the first 10 months of the year, there were 566,000 accidents, and 85,600 deaths on the country's road, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

In 2002, 109,000 Chinese were killed on the 1.76 million kilometers of roads which crisscross the country.

The Ministry of Transport has pledged to launch a national motor safety program in 2004 in a bid to improve China's perilous road safety record.

Car sales are rocketing in China with experts predicting 15 to 20 percent annual growth in the auto market over the next five years.