Car sales in China jumped nearly nine percent in March from a year earlier, figures from an industry group showed Tuesday, a bright spot for the world's second-largest economy.

Vehicle sales hit 2.44 million units last month in the world's top auto market, up 8.8 percent from a year earlier, data provided by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed.

The figure marked a solid 54 percent surge from 1.58 million units sold in February, but was slightly below sales of 2.50 million cars in January, according to CAAM figures.

Auto sales increased at their slowest rate in three years in 2015 as overall Chinese growth lost momentum.

The government slashed the purchase tax on passenger cars with small engines in October, a move which has continued to boost the auto market.

Sales of passenger cars with engines smaller than 1.6 litres rose 10.7 percent in March from a year earlier to 1.46 million units, CAAM said in a statement.

The figures are the latest positive signal for the Chinese economy, which has shown signs of stabilisation as the government has strengthened policy support to boost weakening growth.

New home prices in the country have picked up this year after the government lowered the minimum mortgage down-payment in some cities and cut taxes on property purchases, while manufacturing activity expanded for the first time in nine months in March.

But uncertainties weighing on growth remain as Beijing presses ahead with reforms to transition the economic model to one relying more on consumption than government-led investment and export.

Vehicle sales in China rose nearly five percent to 24.6 million last year while gross domestic product (GDP) grew at its slowest since 1990.

US auto giant General Motors sold nearly 300,000 vehicles in China last month, down 0.6 percent from a year earlier, it said in a statement last week.

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GENERAL MOTORS