BYD shares surge on new energy car prospects

Chinese automobile maker BYD soared more than 9 percent Wednesday morning after its new energy cars were listed in Beijing's and Shanghai's programs to encourage the use of green cars.

Shares of the Shenzhen-based company surged soon after market opening on Wednesday and closed the morning session with a 9.25-percent climb, hitting the 10-percent ceiling set by Chinese regulators several times.

On Wednesday, Beijing's Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology released a list of companies and products under a government program to encourage the use of new energy cars.

BYD's pure electric E6 appeared on the list, together with a model manufactured by BAIC Motor.

Shanghai's municipal government on Tuesday included Qin, a plug-in electric car model made by BYD, on its list for promoting new energy car use, according to a statement.

The Qin model sells at a market price of around 160,000 yuan, and each buyer will receive a central government subsidy of 33,250 yuan, according to the statement.