BEIJING, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure has maintained rapid growth, with the total number of facilities reaching nearly 17.35 million units by the end of August, up 53.5 percent from a year earlier, official data showed Thursday.

Public EV charging facilities stood at about 4.32 million units, an increase of 37.8 percent year on year. Their combined rated power hit 196 million kilowatts, according to the National Energy Administration.

Private charging facilities expanded at an even faster pace, jumping 59.6 percent year on year to 13.03 million units, the administration said.

The robust growth in charging infrastructure is in line with the steady expansion of China's new energy vehicle (NEV) market. From January to August, both production and sales of NEVs posted double-digit increases.

During the period, NEV production surged 37.3 percent year on year to about 9.63 million units, while sales jumped by 36.7 percent to 9.62 million units, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers. ■