French carmaker Renault has started recalling over 60,000 cars exported to China due to problems with their fuel level sensors, state news agency Xinhua quoted the Chinese consumer watchdog as saying.

Renault's China unit this week started recalling 61,508 Koleos sport utility vehicles produced between Dec 16, 2008 and July 10, 2012, Xinhua quoted the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine as saying on Saturday.

The cars have faulty fuel level sensors that display incorrect fuel levels on their dashboards, the watchdog said. Renault will change the sensors for free, it said.

The watchdog's website showed Renault's vehicle recall was announced on Feb 6, the second in two months. Renault had recalled 5,097 Koleos cars in January due to welding problems, the watchdog's website showed.

Like other European carmakers, Renault is struggling with swollen inventories owing to weak demand in Europe and wants to gain a foothold in China, the world's largest auto market and where it lags rivals including Volkswagen.

Besides expanding its Chinese sales network, Renault also wants to build cars in China.