BEIJING, March 10 -- Sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China surged in February this year amid the country's efforts to promote automobile consumption, data from an industry association showed.

Last month, the retail sales of China's new energy passenger cars expanded 61 percent year on year to 439,000 units, according to the China Passenger Car Association.

Data from the association also showed the retail sales of passenger cars in China rose 10.4 percent year on year to reach 1.39 million units in February.

The boom in China's NEV sector came as the world's second-largest economy rolled out a raft of policy incentives to spur the development of NEVs.

China has been implementing the purchase tax exemption policy since 2014 to shore up the development of the NEV sector. In September 2022, it extended the preferential tax policy to the end of 2023.

According to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, China's auto sales expanded 13.5 percent year on year to nearly 1.98 million units in February.