Shares soar at China's sci-tech innovation board debut

Shares on China's sci-tech innovation board (STAR) surged Monday as the new market's first trading day attracted strong investor interests.

A poster of China's sci-tech innovation board (STAR) in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province on Monday, July 22, 2019 [Photo: IC]

The first batch of 25 firms posted robust performances in their debut on the STAR market, whose shares rose about 140 percent on average Monday. Four of them gained over 200 percent.

Anji Technology, a solar module technology firm, saw its share price skyrocket over 400 percent, the highest performance among the debut firms.

The new board reported a total trading volume of about 48.5 billion yuan (about 7.06 billion U.S. dollars) Monday.

First proposed in last November, it took only about 260 days to see the new board turn from an idea into reality.

Establishment of the STAR market and the pilot registration-based initial public offering (IPO) system will support China's innovation-driven economic development and the capital market reform, Li Chao, deputy head of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said at the debut ceremony.

Unlike other domestic boards, it cuts listing application red tape, allows more market-based pricing, prioritizes information disclosure and tightens delisting rules by piloting the registration-based IPO system, a popular practice in many developed markets.

Trading rules are also different, with no price change limits in the first five trading days. In the following trading days, the board allows stocks to rise or fall by a maximum of 20 percent, higher than the 10-percent limit for most stocks on other boards.

With much higher research and development (R&D) investment than that of comparable firms listed on other domestic boards, the first batch of 25 companies on the STAR market are all in the high-tech and strategic emerging sectors, such as new-generation information technology, advanced equipment and bio-medicine.

The STAR market reduces the time cost and uncertainties facing enterprises while seeking IPO, and offers direct financing to support R&D investment, according to Xu Yihua, chairman with TZTEK, one of the first 25 listed firms. "It will help us grow into industrial giants."