BEIJING -- China's sales and production of new energy vehicles have continued to experience fast growth thanks to government support in the sector, industry data shows.

NEV sales went up 81.05 percent year on year to 721,500 units in the first nine months of this year, while production rose 73.05 percent to 734,600 units, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Plug-in hybrid vehicles registered a significant increase of more than 100 percent in both sales and production.

Stellar performance was in sharp contrast to a slowdown in the broader automobile industry that is being weighed down by business transformation, industrial capacity cuts and growing environment awareness.

China has intensified efforts to encourage the use of NEVs to ease pressure on the environment by offering tax exemptions and discounts on car purchases.

China has remained the world's largest NEV market for three consecutive years, with some 777,000 cars sold in 2017.