Small, medium companies to receive leg up

People visit the Shanghai Stock Exchange in the Lujiazui Financial District in Pudong, Shanghai, March 16, 2018. [Photo/IC]

China's outstanding small and medium-sized companies will have more opportunities in listing and financing, Shanghai Securities News reported on Wednesday.

More than 14,000 small- and medium-sized companies, which focus on their core business with refined production, management and services, show distinctive features and embrace innovation, have been selected by local governments to support their development.

This follows a Nov 5 announcement of an upcoming high-tech trading platform -- the science and technology innovation board at the Shanghai Stock Exchange and experimentation with a registration-based system for initial public offerings.

In a statement on the same day, Shanghai Stock Exchange said the move is an "important reform of capital markets to increase their ability to serve science and technology innovative enterprises, enhance market inclusiveness and function."

An official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said 600 companies will be further supported by the MIIT in three years.

These companies — selected by ministries or local governments — may receive attention from capital during the experimental stage of Shanghai's technology innovation board, said Li Hongtu, chief researcher of Bolan Finance Co Ltd in an interview by Shanghai Securities News.

Last Tuesday, the stock exchange held a council meeting to listen to suggestions on the position of the technology innovation board, appropriate thresholds for listed companies, the design of the trading system, and the best method to carry out pilot projects for the registration system.