BEIJING — China's auto sales increased 5.7 percent year-on-year in September, data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed Thursday.

Some 2.71 million vehicles were sold last month, maintaining the momentum from August, when year-on-year sales rose by 5.3 percent.

Production was also up, with 2.67 million vehicles produced in September, a 5.5 percent increase on the same period last year, according to the CAAM.

In the first nine months, total auto output and sales increased by 4.8 percent and 4.5 percent year-on-year to 20.35 million and 20.23 million vehicles, respectively.

Some 78,000 new energy vehicles were sold last month, a year-on-year jump of 79.1 percent and up from 76.3 percent in August, taking sales growth for the January-September period up to 37.7 percent.

The growth comes as China encourages the use of new energy vehicles to ease pressure on the environment, with tax exemptions and discounts for car purchases, and ordering government organizations to buy new energy vehicles.

Passenger cars sales were up by 3.3 percent to 2.34 million in the month, bringing the total sales in the first nine months up to 17.15 million, 2.4 percent higher than the same period last year.

Sales of passenger cars produced by Chinese brands amounted to 966,000, down 0.9 percent year-on-year in September, said the CAAM.

Auto exports also increased in September, up 38.9 percent from the same period of 2016 to 83,000, while total exports in the first nine months grew to 623,000, up 26.3 percent year-on-year.

China has been the world's largest car market for eight years.