BEIJING — China's motor vehicle exports surged 65 percent year-on-year and reached a record high in August, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed.

The country exported 308,000 motor vehicles last month, up 6.2 percent compared with one month earlier, said the association, noting that it was the first time China's monthly auto exports had exceeded 300,000 units.

Some 260,000 passenger cars were sold overseas in August, soaring 68.7 percent year-on-year and up 7.6 percent on a monthly basis, the data showed.

The rapid expansion of new-energy vehicles (NEVs) was a highlight of China's auto exports. Last month, 83,000 units of NEVs were exported, jumping 82.3 percent year-on-year and 53.6 percent month-on-month. NEV exports almost doubled year-on-year in the first eight months of this year to 340,000 units.

In the January-August period, China's auto exports neared 1.82 million units, rising 52.8 percent from the same period of 2021, the data also showed.