BEIJING, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- China's new energy vehicles (NEVs) continued to see rapid growth in production and sales in the first ten months of this year, industry data showed.

NEV sales jumped 75.6 percent year on year to 860,000 units in the January-October period, while production went up 70 percent to 879,000 units, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Plug-in hybrid vehicles posted a significant increase of more than 130 percent in both sales and production.

The eye-catching performance was achieved amid a downturn in the broader automobile industry.

The government 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 alone.