China sold 271,000 new energy vehicles in July, another single-month high, according to data released Wednesday by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

That's up 164.4 percent from a year ago and 5.8 percent from the previous month, the CAAM said.

(Data: China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. Graphic: CnEVPost)

Cumulative sales of new energy vehicles in China from January to July totaled 1.478 million units, up 197.1 percent from a year earlier.

China's new energy vehicle penetration rate improved to 10 percent from January to July, the data showed.

The country produced 284,000 new energy vehicles in July, up 170.8 percent year-over-year and up 14.3 percent from the previous month. 1.504 million new energy vehicles were produced in total from January to July, up 195.6 percent year-over-year.

China exported 39,000 new energy vehicles in July, up 847.9 percent year-over-year and 155.3 percent from the previous month. 127,000 new energy vehicles were exported from January to July, up 384.9 percent year-over-year.

In July, the production and sales of pure electric vehicles were 232,000 and 220,000 respectively, up 1.8 times and 1.7 times year-over-year. Plug-in hybrid vehicle production and sales were 52,000 and 50,000 respectively, up 1.5 times and 1.6 times year-over-year.

Fuel cell vehicle production and sales in July were 32 and 196 units respectively, up 3.6 times and 48 times year-over-year.

From January to July, the production and sales of pure electric vehicles were 1.26 million and 1.227 million respectively, both up 2.2 times year-over-year. Plug-in hybrid vehicle production and sales were 244,000 and 251,000 respectively, up 1.1 times and 1.3 times year-over-year.

Fuel cell vehicle production and sales from January to July were 664 and 675 units respectively, up 48.5 percent and 47.7 percent year-over-year.

In contrast, China's July auto sales declined compared to the same month last year.

Total auto sales in July were 1.864 million units, down 11.9 percent year-over-year and down 7.5 percent from the previous month. 14.756 million units were sold from January to July, up 19.3 percent year-over-year.

China's NEV exports show explosive growth in July, the CPCA says