(Yicai) April 25 -- Shares of Great Wall Motor surged after the Chinese carmaker said its net profit skyrocketed 1,753 percent in the first quarter of the year thanks to higher sales brought by an improved sales structure.

Great Wall Motor [SHA: 601633] was trading up 8 percent at CNY26.74 (USD3.69) as of lunch break in Shanghai today. Its Hong Kong-listed stock [HKG: 2333] jumped 9.8 percent to HKD12.32 (USD1.57).

Net profit was CNY3.2 billion (USD445 million) in the three months ended Feb. 29, according to the Baoding, Hebei province-based company’s latest earnings report released yesterday. Revenue rose 48 percent to CNY42.9 billion (USD5.9 billion) in the period from a year earlier.

Great Wall Motor’s earnings per share soared 19-fold to 38 Chinese cents (5 US cents) in the first quarter from the same period last year.

The carmaker also released a new action plan yesterday to establish a global system for research, development, production, supply, and sales, invest more in technological innovation, and apply more forward-looking innovation methods.

Editor: Futura Costaglione