VANCOUVER -- Shares in Ballard Power Systems gained nearly 10 per cent Thursday after the company announced a distribution agreement with Toyota Tsusho Corp.

The deal will see the company become a distributor of Ballard-powered fuel cell products in Japan.

The initial term of the agreement runs to the end of 2020.

Toyota Tsusho is part of the Toyota Group.

It is one of Japan's largest trading companies with a wide range of operations.

Shares in Ballard (TSX:BLD), which is based in Burnaby, B.C., closed up 22 cents at $2.75 after trading as high as $3.03 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.