China's auto industry still needs to further recover and expand demand, and the release of consumption potential needs to be accelerated, the CAAM said.

PHEV sales were 194,000 units in May, up 94.4 percent year-on-year. Sales of fuel cell vehicles were 400 units, up 310.7 percent year-on-year.

All vehicle sales in China were 2,382,000 in May, up 27.9 percent year-on-year and up 10.3 percent from April.

This means that China's NEVs had a penetration rate of 30.1 percent in May, up from 29.5 percent in April.

Production of NEVs in China was 713,000 units in May, up 53 percent year-on-year and 11.4 percent from 640,000 units in April.

Production of all vehicles in China was 2.333 million units in May, up 21.1 percent year-on-year and up 9.4 percent from May.

Both auto production and sales in China saw year-on-year growth in May, with NEVs continuing their rapid growth, the CAAM said.

However, the auto industry is still operating under great pressure, and the profitability of industry enterprises is at a low level, the CAAM noted.

From the current perspective, China's auto industry still needs to further recover and expand demand, and the release of consumption potential needs to be accelerated to drive steady growth in the industry, the CAAM said.

In May, 389,000 vehicles were exported from China, up 58.7 percent year-on-year and up 3.4 percent from April.

Among them, exports of NEVs were 108,000 units, up 150 percent year-on-year and up 7.9 percent from April.

In January-May, China's auto sales were 10.617 million units, an increase of 11.1 percent from the same period last year.

NEVs sold 2.94 million units in January-May, up 46.8 percent year-on-year, with a market share of 27.7 percent.

China contributes 56% of global EV sales in Q1, Counterpoint says