STAR Market a 'priority choice' for tech firms, says SSE chief

The STAR Market has become a "priority choice" to list shares for domestic firms boasting hardcore technologies, the head of the Shanghai Stock Exchange told the ongoing 14th Lujiazui Forum in Shanghai on Thursday.

Shanghai will take more measures to boost the STAR Market and the city's innovation ecosystem, SSE Chairman Qiu Yong said during the forum's session on Improving the Financial Service System to Bolster Sci-tech Innovation. The two-day forum concludes on Friday.

By the end of May, a total of 528 enterprises had been listed on the innovation-oriented STAR Market, with more than 200 firms representing next-generation technology.

STAR-listed firms have so far raised 820 billion yuan (US$115.5 billion) in total through initial public offerings. The new board provides private equity and venture capital funds a new exit channel, making them invest more in tech startups, tallying about 600 billion yuan now, Qiu noted.

More than 170,000 researchers are currently working at STAR-listed firms. Around 80,000 of them enjoy equity incentives from over 320 firms. It is a good ecosystem to encourage scientists and engineers, he added.

Since its debut on July 22, 2019, the tech-heavy board has gradually grown into a testing ground for systematic breakthroughs in the capital market, with various innovations and upgrades of systems taken step by step, industry officials said.

In the future, the local exchange will play the role of a "gatekeeper" to attract more firms with hardcore innovations; improve fund-raising and merger and acquisition processes to support industrial structure upgrade and boost the whole industry chain development, Qiu said.