BEIJING, Sept. 11 -- China's auto market maintained steady expansion in August, with both production and sales reporting double-digit increases, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed on Thursday.

The country's auto output reached about 2.82 million units last month, a 13 percent increase from the same period a year ago, while auto sales stood at nearly 2.86 million units, representing a 16.4 percent year-on-year increase, the data showed.

Domestic auto sales climbed 15.6 percent year on year to around 2.25 million units, while domestic sales of traditional fuel vehicles climbed 12.9 percent, marking a third straight month of growth.

Pro-consumption policies and a strong pipeline of new model launches underpinned the steady growth momentum, with broader efforts to urge auto companies to maintain fair competition, according to the association.

From January to August, total auto sales stood at about 21.13 million units, up 12.6 percent year on year, with sales growth accelerating by 0.6 percentage points from the January-July period, according to the CAAM.

In particular, new energy vehicle production surged 37.3 percent year on year during the period to about 9.63 million units, while sales jumped by 36.7 percent to 9.62 million units.