BEIJING, Nov. 11 -- China's auto market maintained its steady expansion in October, indicating improvements in economic operations as pro-growth policy measures take effect, industrial data showed on Monday.

Auto sales in the country rose 7 percent year on year to 3.05 million units last month, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed.

During the first 10 months of the year, auto sales amounted to over 24.6 million units, up 2.7 percent year on year, according to the association.

Auto output increased 3.6 percent year on year to about 3 million units in October alone.

The data also showed that the country's new energy vehicle (NEV) sector sustained its sound growth momentum last month.

The national NEV output surged 48 percent year on year to nearly 1.46 million units in October, and NEV sales climbed 49.6 percent to 1.43 million units.

China's auto exports hit 542,000 units last month, up 11.1 percent from a year ago and bringing the country's total auto exports for the January-October period to about 4.86 million units, the data showed.