China auto sector continues growth momentum

BEIJING - China's automobile industry continued to see robust growth in production and sales in October 2022, new data showed Thursday.

Auto production in the world's largest automobile market reached 2.6 million units and automobile sales exceeded 2.5 million units last month, rising 11.1 percent and 6.9 percent year on year respectively, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed.

In the first 10 months of this year, automobile output reached 22.24 million units, up 7.9 percent year on year. Automobile sales totaled 21.98 million units, rising 4.6 percent.

In breakdown, the country's passenger vehicles market maintained double-digit year-on-year growth. The output and sales of passenger vehicles in October surged 16.9 percent and 10.7 percent year-on-year, respectively.

In the same period, the commercial vehicles market remained weak, with production up 0.8 percent and sales down 1.8 percent, month-on-month, respectively.

China's new energy vehicle (NEV) market saw a remarkable expansion in October. The output of NEVs in the country reached 762,000 units last month, up 87.6 percent year-on-year, while the sales of NEVs rose 81.7 percent from a year earlier to 714,000 units.

Favorable market policies will continue to boost the NEV market. China announced that the purchase tax exemption for NEVs will be extended to the end of 2023. This marks the third extension since the country first implemented the policy in 2014.

The number of new charging points for NEVs in China grew at a fast clip in October. Some 39,000 public charging posts were added last month, according to the China Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Promotion Alliance.

By the end of October, the number of charging posts across the country had reached 1.675 million, the alliance said.

China's automobile exports hit a record high in October. The country exported 337,000 motor vehicles last month, surging 46 percent year on year. The figure also represented a 12.3-percent increase over the number registered in September, said the association.

Major economic indicators of the automobile industry continue to improve, which will help the auto market achieve stable growth for the whole year, the association added.