SHENZHEN - Chinese leading electric vehicle maker BYD sold 28,668 new energy vehicles (NEVs) in January, up by 291.11 percent from the same period last year, data posted at the company's website showed.

The surge is fueled by strong growth in the blade electric vehicle genre, which rocketed from 42 units to 16,219 units compared with the same period last year.

The overall car sales of the company grew by 3.74 percent, with 43,920 units sold in the month, according to the data.

In late January, BYD issued 1 billion yuan ($146.9 million) in green bonds to finance its green industry projects, including new energy vehicle factories, parts and battery plants and monorail business.

BYD entered the auto manufacturing business in 2003 and now has four automobile industrial bases in Shenzhen, Xi'an, Beijing and Changsha.

Bucking the downward trend in the broader Chinese auto market, sales of new energy vehicles soared last year, seeing a 61.74 percent year-on-year growth to 1.26 million units, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.

Chinese automaker Geely and FAW-Volkswagen Audi both set monthly sales records in the Chinese market in January with about 158,400 units and 63,888 units sold respectively, according to data from the companies.