Sales of new energy vehicles (NEVs) in China surged in March, while the overall retail sales of passenger cars in China declined as supply chain disruptions weighed on production.

The retail sales of NEVs in China expanded 137.6 percent year on year to 445,000 units in March, according to the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA).

Chinese buyers have rushed to place orders before the NEV makers further hike prices due to the higher costs of raw materials.

The CPCA said that China's leading NEV manufacturer BYD saw its wholesale figures reach 104,338 units, and Tesla China followed with 65,814 units last month.

However, the country's carmakers manufactured 2.24 million vehicles in March, 9.1 percent less than the same period last year, the association said.

Sales in the world's biggest car market tumbled 10.5 percent in March from a year earlier to 1.57 million vehicles, CPCA data showed.

China has introduced stricter measures in containing the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant in many parts of the country, including JilinProvince and Shanghai. Jilin and Shanghai are major manufacturing bases for auto part makers and automakers; each of them takes up 11 percent of the national production, according to the CPCA calculation.

Tesla has suspended production at its Shanghai factory since March 28, while electric vehicle maker Nio said on Saturday it had suspended production after operations at its suppliers were disrupted.

Nio's supply chain partners in Jilin Province, Jiangsu Province, Shanghai and other places have successively ceased production since March, the company said on its mobile app.

Battery giant CATL said on Monday it has implemented a "closed-loop management" system at its main factory to keep production going. A "closed-loop management" system is akin to a bubble-like arrangement in which workers sleep, live and work in isolation from the rest of society to prevent virus transmission.

(With input from agencies)