China’s new energy passenger car market continued to show strong growth in October, with retail sales reaching 1.2 million units, according to data released by the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA) on Friday.

The figure represents an increase of 56.7 per cent year-on-year and a jump of 6.4 per cent month-on-month, the association said.

Production of new energy passenger cars reached 1.38 million units in October, up 49.9 per cent year-on-year and 12.6 per cent month-on-month.

The penetration rate of new energy vehicles, a measure of popularity in the domestic market, rose to 50.1 per cent last month, according to the data.

On the export front, China shipped 120,000 new passenger cars using new energy last month, up 10.4 per cent year-on-year and 13.7 per cent from September last year.