BEIJING — Auto sales in China continued to decline last month, industry data showed on Dec 11.

A total of 2.55 million vehicles were sold in November, down 13.9 percent year-on-year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

In the first 11 months of the year, sales dropped 1.7 percent year-on-year to 25.42 million while output fell 2.6 percent to 25.33 million, the CAAM data showed.

Auto sales for the whole of 2018 are set to post a decrease due to factors including slower economic growth, and sales for 2019 are expected to be flat, CAAM deputy secretary general Shi Jianhua told a forum last week.

New energy vehicles (NEVs) will continue to become a driving force for China’s auto market growth in 2019 and 2020, Shi noted.

NEV sales rose 37.6 percent in November from the same period last year, outperforming the overall car market, according to the CAAM.

In the Jan-Nov period, NEV sales jumped 68 percent year-on-year to 1.03 million, the data showed.

China is the world’s largest auto market and also one of the fastest-growing NEV markets, thanks to the government’s preferential policies to boost clean energy use to curb pollution.