Strong demand for passenger vehicles boosted vehicle output and sales in China, which both continued to grow briskly in February from a year ago, an industry association said on Monday.

The nation's vehicle sales reached 528,100 units last month, up 58.71 per cent from February in 2005, according to statistics from China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Sales of made-in-China automobiles jumped by 50.66 per cent year-on-year to 480,000 units last month.

The output and sales of commercial vehicles, which include buses and trucks, experienced lively growth from a year ago.

Commercial vehicle output stood at 150,400 units last month, up 28.03 per cent. The February sales of commercial vehicles rose by 28.76 per cent to 135,500 units.

The auto association said the total vehicle output in February edged up by only 0.93 per cent when compared with the previous month. However, the February sales tumbled by 9.69 per cent from a strong January this year.

Accumulated vehicle output and sales during the first two months of this year totalled 1.05 million and 1.01 million units respectively, jumping 42.28 per cent and 47.75 per cent from the same period last year, according to statistics.