On April 10, with the consent of the State Council, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) issued the "Opinions on Deepening ChiNext Board Reform to Better Serve the Development of New Quality Productive Forces." This marks a significant step by the ChiNext Board reform to target the crucial deployment of "continuously generating new quality productive forces," and signifies further progress in enhancing the inclusivity and adaptability of the capital market, thereby strengthening its appeal and competitiveness.
The reform focuses on innovation, aiming to enhance the systemic inclusivity of the ChiNext Board. Since its inception, the ChiNext Board has been entrusted with the important mission of serving industrial innovation and promoting transformation and upgrading, and it is expected to make greater contributions under new development circumstances.
The Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan explicitly calls for "continuously generating new quality productive forces." A key aspect of the latest round of ChiNext Board reform is to continuously improve the market's functions to provide more efficient financial support in line with the development patterns of emerging industries, future industries, and high-quality innovative and entrepreneurial enterprises.
One of the most notable measures is the introduction of a fourth set of listing criteria tailored for high-quality innovative and entrepreneurial companies in emerging and future industries. Specifically, this fourth standard comprises two indicators. One primarily applies to companies in emerging industries: "Estimated market capitalization not less than 3 billion yuan, revenue in the most recent year not less than 200 million yuan, and a compound annual revenue growth rate over the past three years not less than 30%." The other is customized for companies in future industries: "Estimated market capitalization not less than 4 billion yuan, revenue in the most recent year not less than 200 million yuan, and cumulative R&D investment over the past three years not less than 100 million yuan, accounting for no less than 15% of revenue."
Utilizing existing systems to their full potential is also a vital part of deepening reforms and enhancing systemic inclusivity and adaptability. The Opinions specify making full use of the ChiNext Board's existing listing standards to support qualified high-quality enterprises that align with the board's positioning and national industrial policy requirements to list on the board.
Currently, there are nearly 1,400 listed companies on the ChiNext Board. Many high-quality innovative enterprises among them urgently need efficient and convenient equity and debt financing, industrial mergers and acquisitions, and other activities to realize their development plans for business expansion and strengthening supply chains. As a key focus of this reform round, "improving the financing and M&A systems to enhance the flexibility and convenience of equity and debt financing" has garnered significant market attention. Various system upgrades aim to address bottlenecks and remove obstacles, helping listed companies better utilize the capital market for transformation, upgrading, and strengthening.
Effectively combining market forces with proactive government involvement is essential for any reform. A major innovation in this round of ChiNext Board reform is the explicit plan to "pilot a mechanism where prefecture-level and higher municipal governments or provincial governments submit information on enterprises intending to list on the ChiNext Board to the CSRC and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange." The Opinions clarify several market concerns regarding this pilot.
Strengthening whole-process supervision of listed companies is another key focus of this reform round. Regarding strict control at the listing entry point, the reform tightens responsibilities across the entire review and registration chain. The Opinions emphasize enhancing the targeted nature of review inquiries, highlighting the principle of materiality, and increasing regulatory transparency. It also involves strengthening checks and balances on public power and enhancing anti-corruption risk prevention throughout the review and registration process. Furthermore, supervision over new share pricing will be intensified to guide investors towards more prudent and reasonable pricing.
Addressing the market's strong aversion to financial fraud by listed companies, this round of reform continues to apply pressure. The Opinions specify ongoing rigorous prevention and punishment of financial fraud among listed companies, enhancing穿透式 supervision, improving the quality and efficiency of technology empowerment, strengthening non-on-site monitoring and detection of financial misconduct, and improving information communication and sharing mechanisms between the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and other units within the CSRC system. This aims to promptly identify and address emerging issues and severely punish illegal activities such as fraudulent issuance, financial fraud, insider trading, and利益输送.
How to further solidify the responsibility of intermediaries as "gatekeepers" of the capital market? The Opinions point to improving the regulatory system for sponsors and sponsor representatives, accelerating the revision of regulatory rules for securities companies, enhancing the evaluation of sponsor institutions' practice quality, and strictly managing the准入 of sponsor representatives.
Additionally, the reform highlights a regulatory orientation that supports the good and restricts the inferior, strengthens classified supervision of listed companies, improves and strictly implements delisting systems, and enhances investor protection during the delisting process. These institutional arrangements signal a policy direction towards further improving the quality of listed companies and promoting whole-process supervision.
Enhancing investors' sense of gain and promoting a virtuous cycle between investment and financing is a critical issue this reform must address. This round of ChiNext Board reform further deepens reforms on the investment side to promote coordinated development of investment and financing.
Key measures include introducing a market maker system on the ChiNext Board to enhance intrinsic market stability; adjusting block trading to real-time trade confirmation; introducing a盘后 fixed-price trading mechanism for ChiNext-related ETFs, allowing fund investment advisors to allocate ChiNext ETFs, and including ChiNext ETFs in the Fund Connect platform for transfers; optimizing the ChiNext broad-based index system, launching more ChiNext-related ETF products and options varieties, and适时推出创业板股指期货.
By the end of March 2026, ChiNext listed companies accounted for one-quarter of the total number of A-share listed companies, with a total market capitalization of nearly 18 trillion yuan, representing over 16% of the total A-share market capitalization. The board has become one of the most dynamic markets globally.
With the launch of this new round of reforms, the ChiNext Board, now 16 years old, stands at a new starting point. There is anticipation that the ChiNext Board will make new explorations in the comprehensive reform of investment and financing in China's capital market, continuously unleashing and stimulating market vitality, and injecting stronger momentum into the high-quality development of China's economy.
Comments