BEIJING, April 11 -- China's automobile market picked up its pace of growth in March, with industry insiders believing that it will continue to gather steam thanks to new supportive policies and the promise of more to come.

China's auto sales expanded 9.7 percent year on year to about 2.45 million units in March, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed Tuesday.

In March, the automobile output in China reached 2.58 million units, increasing by 15.3 percent year on year, said the association.

The new-energy vehicles (NEVs) market posted another stellar performance, driven by a sound policy environment.

China sold about 653,000 NEVs in March, increasing by 34.8 percent year on year, while NEV production surged by 44.8 percent from a year earlier to about 674,000 units.

In February, China pledged to roll out policies to support the purchase of NEVs, saying that measures will be taken to improve the NEV user experience from charging to license plate registration.

Thanks to the NEV boom, the market share of NEVs in China's auto market reached 26.1 percent in the first quarter of the year.

China's commercial vehicles market logged steady expansion. Sales of commercial vehicles stood at 434,000 units in March, representing a year-on-year increase of 17.4 percent.

China's automobile exports witnessed a significant increase of 70.6 percent from a year earlier in the first quarter, making a positive contribution to the growth of the auto market.

Looking forward, industry insiders are bullish on China's auto sector in 2023, given the NEV boom and the rapid growth in auto exports, said Chen Shihua, deputy secretary-general of the association, noting that challenges still remain as effective demand has not been fully unleashed yet.

The auto sector is pivotal in propping up the national economy, said Chen, suggesting that policies to expand auto sales are needed to inject vitality into the market and support the steady growth of the industry through the year.