BEIJING, Aug. 8 -- Retail sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China jumped 31.9 percent year on year in July, data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) showed on Tuesday.

A total of 641,000 NEVs were sold in China last month, according to the CPCA. However, the figure represented a month-on-month decline of 3.6 percent.

China's new energy vehicle market continued to see substantial expansion as the total retail sales of NEVs rose 36.3 percent year on year to 3.73 million units since the beginning of the year, data showed.

Data indicates that retail sales of passenger vehicles reached 1.78 million units in July, marking the second-highest level in history.