BEIJING, Jan. 22 -- Sales of high-end passenger vehicles in China logged steady expansion in 2022 driven by consumption upgrading within the country, industry data shows.

About 3.89 million such vehicles were sold in China last year, up 11.1 percent year on year, at a pace 1.6 percentage points faster than all passenger vehicles, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

During the period, the sales of high-end passenger cars accounted for 16.5 percent of total passenger car sales in the country, 0.7 percentage points higher than 2021.

The sales of petrol cars with prices over 500,000 yuan (about 73,853 U.S. dollars) soared 41.2 percent year on year in 2022, while that for new-energy cars with prices ranging between 350,000 and 400,000 yuan jumped 167 percent, said the association.