The Hang Seng Index advanced 0.3 per cent to 24,602.04 at 9.40am local time. The Hang Seng Tech Index added 0.3 per cent. On the mainland, the CSI 300 Index strengthened 0.3 per cent, while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.1 per cent.
EV maker Li Auto rose 1.3 per cent to HK$114.60, Geely Automobile Holdings climbed 1 per cent to HK$18.44 and BYD advanced 0.4 per cent to HK$123.
On the flip side, search-engine leader Baidu fell 4.5 per cent to HK$84.60, short-video platform Kuaishou Technology lost 0.7 per cent to HK$69.10 and e-commerce giant JD.com eased 0.6 per cent to HK$124.
Beijing on Wednesday pledged to curb “irrational competition” in the EV sector during a State Council meeting chaired by Premier Li Qiang. Authorities said they would step up price monitoring, regulate the market and push companies to innovate and improve quality to stabilise the industry and safeguard economic growth.
US stocks closed higher overnight, with the S&P 500 rising 0.3 per cent and the Dow Jones advancing 0.5 per cent, after President Donald Trump said that he “is not planning on doing anything” to remove Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.
