Sales of passenger vehicles surged 17 percent on an annual basis in 2013, after a two-year period of near stalling, far exceeding the industry's earlier expectations.

Sales of cars, sports-utility vehicles, multi-purpose vehicles and minivans, reached 17,183,622 units, the China Passenger Car Association said on Wednesday.

"This beats earlier expectations and will help support China's more than 7.5 percent GDP growth," said Rao Da, secretary-general of the association.

He said that a buying rush, caused by fears of a vehicle purchase limitation policy in cities, helped increase sales in the final quarter, and predicted a more than 12 percent year-on-year market growth for 2014.