The 2020 Beijing Auto, an annual event showcasing China's rising auto market, kicked off on Saturday in Beijing and will run until October 5.

China's auto market has rapidly recovered from the COVID-19 crash in recent months. The country's auto sales rose 11.6 percent in August from a year earlier, the fifth straight rise after plunging during the lockdown. 

Thanks to the better-than-expected market recovery, China's new energy vehicle (NEV) sales surged 26 percent year on year in August. Sales of passenger vehicle also expanded 8.9 percent last month, registering the fastest growth since May 2018.

The show was initially planned for April this year but was delayed in light of the prevention and control of the coronavirus pandemic.

The country has been putting incentives in place to drum up auto sales, including extending the period for subsidies and tax cuts on the purchase of new energy vehicles.

(Cover: Auto show in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, August 13, 2020. /Xinhua)