BEIJING -- Sales of new energy vehicles (NEV) in China increased by nearly 250 percent year-on-year in the first four months amid the steady recovery of market demand, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed Wednesday.

In the Jan-April period, NEV sales amounted to 732,000 units, up 249.2 percent year-on-year. In April alone, NEV sales surged 180 percent year-on-year to reach 206,000 units, the data showed.

The monthly production and sales of the NEV remained over 200,000 units, setting new monthly records and outperforming the automobile industry as a whole, the association said.

China will further promote NEVs' high-quality development by advancing the integration of technologies such as electrification and intelligent networking, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.