Beijing, Dec 10 (IANS) Both automobile sales and output in China hit record highs in November as the demand continued to recover on government support policies, industry data showed on Thursday.

China’s automobile sales jumped 20 percent year-on-year to 2.51 million vehicles in November, while the output rose 17.7 percent from a year earlier to 2.54 million, Xinhua cited from a statement by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM).

For the first 11 months of the year, 21.8 million vehicles were sold, up 3.3 percent year-on-year. Production was about the same level, up 1.8 percent from a year earlier.

Passenger car sales grew rapidly in November, while Chinese-branded passenger cars took a larger share of the market with sales soaring 26.9 percent year-on-year, the CAAM said.

The automobile market cooled in the early months of 2015 as a result of the economic slowdown, fierce competition and purchase limit policies in first-tier cities. But both sales and output rebounded in October due to reduced purchase taxes.

China’s vehicle-purchase tax was halved from 10 percent to 5 percent for low-emission passenger vehicles, effective from October 1, 2015 to December 31, 2016.