BEIJING, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- It has been ten years since the first batch of companies got listed on ChiNext, China's Nasdaq-style board. At the age of ten, the capital platform is expecting new reforms to woo innovative start-ups.
As of Oct. 21, the number of listed companies on ChiNext reached 774, with a total market capitalization of 5.59 trillion yuan (about 790.66 billion U.S. dollars), data from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange showed.
ChiNext, also known as the Growth Enterprises Market, was inaugurated in Shenzhen on Oct. 23, 2009.
Tailor-made for the needs of firms engaged in innovation, ChiNext has fostered several new economic industry leaders, such as battery producer CATL and medical devices and solutions provider Mindray.
The high-tech board has mirrored the transformation trajectory of China's economy in the past decade.
Li Xunlei, chief economist of Zhongtai Securities, said the growth of ChiNext over the past decade reflects the rise of China's new economy and technology enterprises, the upgrading of the service sector and the rising role of the private sector in the economy.
Latest signals showed the board will go through further reforms.
The security regulator will speed up the reform of ChiNext and pilot the registration-based IPO system, said Li Chao, vice chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) Sunday.
The CSRC will promote the reform and development of Shenzhen's capital market and improve the quality and efficiency of the capital market in serving the real economy, said Yi Huiman, chairman of the CSRC, on Oct. 9.
Experts believe ChiNext should sharpen its competitive edge, especially after a new sci-tech innovation board (STAR market) in Shanghai was launched in July this year.
ChiNext should continue to serve small and medium-sized innovative enterprises, form a misaligned development with the STAR market and complement each other in differentiated competition, said Dong Dengxin, director of the Institute of Finance and Securities at Wuhan University of Science and Technology.
The STAR market has implemented the registration-based IPO system, which requires strict information disclosures but do not need approval from the CSRC. Companies and investors can decide the scale, valuation and timing of the new share offerings.
ChiNext, along with the main board, has been implementing the approval-based IPO system, under which companies must endure a stringent application process to receive approval from the regulator.
The reform path of ChiNext has been clearer and it will pilot the registration-based IPO system to sharpen its competitiveness, Li said.
A group of innovative enterprises have raised funds through the ChiNext market and their exemplary and spillover effects have led to creation of a national small and medium-enterprise support system, according to a statement on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
