(Yicai Global) Feb. 9 -- Shares in Xpeng Motors surged by as much as 11.5 percent today after the Chinese electric car startup was added to the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect mechanism, allowing mainland investors to snap up its Hong Kong-listed shares.

Xpeng’s stock price [HKG:9868] closed up 8 percent at HKD152.50 (USD20), giving it a market valuation of HKD261.2 billion (USD33.5 billion). Earlier in the day it had reached HKD157.50.

The Shenzhen bourse included Xpeng’s Hong Kong-listed shares into the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect program today, the Guangzhou-based carmaker said. It is the first EV maker to be included in the stock trade mechanism and will allow more mainland investors to buy in and boost liquidity, Xpeng said.

Transactions on the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect program, which allows investors on the mainland and Hong Kong to invest in each other’s stock markets, almost doubled last year from the year before to CNY41.9 trillion (USD6.6 trillion), according to data released in December 2021.

Xpeng’s sales jumped more than three and a half times last year from the year before to 98,155 units, outdoing its major rivals Nio and Li Auto which logged sales of 91,429 units and 90,491 autos, respectively

Editor: Kim Taylor