In what Xinhua characterizes as “a key step forward,” the Chinese government announced the establishment of a new stock exchange in Beijing, “building it into a primary platform serving innovation-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).” China currently has existing stock exchanges of Shanghai and Shenzhen, but they are not meeting the needs of SMEs. “Since the reform and opening-up, China’s SMEs, on the back of the country’s vast market and economic rise, have played a major role in spurring innovation and quickly grown into major job creators and drivers of growth. But in recent years the sector has faced increasing pressure from economic headwinds, higher costs of labor and materials, as well as financing difficulties due to a lack of support from banks and financial institutions,” Xinhua reported.
Sui Zhenjiang, vice mayor of Beijing, commented that, as the national center of science and technology innovation, Beijing has rich resources in the field and has achieved remarkable results in applying related technologies. In promoting the new bourse, Sui stated that, in the future, the city will provide equity trading conditions for multinational companies investing in technology-based SMEs to promote win-win cooperation.
