BEIJING — China's installed capacity of storage batteries used to power electric vehicles surged in July amid strong sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs), industry data showed.

Last month, the installed capacity of storage batteries came in at 11.3 gigawatt-hours, up 125 percent year-on-year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

The data came as China's auto consumption has continued its stable recovery, with sales of NEVs hitting a historic high in the first seven months of the year.

NEV sales in China jumped to 271,000 units in July, up 160 percent year-on-year, while NEV output surged 170 percent to 284,000 units.

In the first seven months of the year, the country's NEV sales totaled nearly 1.48 million units, double the figure from the same period last year, as production and demand continued to recover, the CAAM said.