17 firms debut on China's "new third board"

BEIJING, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- China's National Equities Exchange and Quotations, also known as the "new third board," saw the debut of 17 new small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the week ending Sept. 30.

With the newcomers, the total number of companies on the board stood at 10,946, according to the exchange.

During the week, turnover on the board stood at 1.492 billion yuan (about 217.2 million U.S. dollars), up 26.44 percent from the previous week.

The exchange was launched in early 2013 to supplement the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges to serve SMEs.

It is seen as a more beneficial financing channel for small businesses, with low costs and simple listing procedures.