Sales and production of new-energy cars soared in China in March, according to data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) on Wednesday.
In March, 68,000 new-energy cars were produced and sold in China, up by 105 percent and 117.4 percent on a yearly basis, data released by CAAM showed.
Sales of new-energy cars accounted for about 2.5 percent of China's overall car sales (2.66 million) in March, the data showed.
In the first three months the year, 150,000 new-energy cars were produced, up by 156.9 percent year-on-year, while 143,000 new-energy cars were sold, up by 154.3 percent on a yearly basis, according to the CAAM data.
The data also showed that overall car sales reached 7,183,000 from January to March in China, up by 2.8 percent on a yearly basis.
In 2017, 777,000 new-energy cars were sold in China, up by 53.3 percent on a yearly basis, according to data from the Shanghai-based Pudong Times in January.
The report also stressed that so far, more than 3.4 million new-energy cars have been sold globally, of which more than half have been sold in China.
Miao Wei, head of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, was quoted by the Xinhua News Agency in January 2017 as saying that production of new-energy cars is likely to reach 2 million cars by the end of 2020.
He also disclosed that sales of new-energy cars will account for more than 20 percent of China's overall car sales by the end of 2025.
The Chinese government has launched several measures in recent months to boost development in the new-energy car sector, such as the official launch of new energy car license plates in a number of cities, as well as raising the loan ratio for new-energy cars.
