BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- China's automobile exports maintained the trend of strong growth in the first four months of this year, industry data shows.

A total of 1.37 million vehicles were exported during the period, surging 89.2 percent from the same period last year, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Passenger vehicle exports jumped 110 percent year on year to top 1.14 million units, while exports of commercial vehicles climbed 31.5 percent from the same period of last year to 228,000 units.

In the January-April period, exports of new-energy vehicles also soared 170 percent year on year to 348,000 units, the data also reveals.