TOKYO -- Honda slashed its net profit forecast for the fiscal year 2012 by 20 percent due to estimated sales decline in China, the Japanese automaker said on Monday.

Honda cut its net profit forecast for the year till March 2013 to 375 billion yen ($4.71 billion) from its earlier projection of 470 billion yen.

The automaker cut its forecast for a group operating profit by 16.1 percent to 520 billion yen, on sales of 9.8 trillion yen, down 4.9 percent.

Honda lowered its sales target in China for the January-December period from the earlier estimated 750,000 units to 620,000 units, amid strained economic ties.