On July 30, Zhejiang Xinxing Tools Co., Ltd. began trading on the ChiNext board, marking the arrival of the 1,400th company on this capital platform dedicated to fostering high-quality innovation. Since its launch in 2009 with 28 pioneering companies, the ChiNext board has evolved over more than 16 years from a "test field" into a new "highland" for innovation. Throughout this period, it has closely followed industrial upgrade trends and capital market reforms, using an inclusive institutional framework and robust capital empowerment to continuously energize the growth of high-quality innovative enterprises.
These 1,400 companies represent 1,400 distinct innovation explorations and 1,400 growth possibilities. They anchor themselves in specialized sectors, deeply cultivate independent innovation, and persistently build core competitiveness, becoming crucial pillars for the capital market in supporting technological self-reliance and fostering new productive forces. A representative from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) stated that at this new starting point, the SZSE will continue to deepen the implementation of the ChiNext board's reforms, fully leverage its functional advantages, strengthen its "excellent innovation, high growth" characteristics, improve market supervision and services, and attract and cultivate more high-quality innovative enterprises in emerging and future industries. This aims to promote a virtuous cycle of "technology-industry-capital," providing more innovation momentum for China's high-quality economic development.
Hardcore Technology Breakthroughs Build the Innovation Foundation
At its core, innovation is most directly reflected in technological breakthroughs. The high-quality, innovative growth companies gathered on the ChiNext board are the primary force driving technological innovation. According to Wind data, nearly 90% of ChiNext-listed companies are high-tech enterprises, and over 60% are from strategic emerging industries. They use hardcore technology as their core competitiveness, deeply engage in hard technology fields, and demonstrate strong innovation vitality through tangible R&D achievements. In the new energy sector, several leading companies have transitioned from technological followers to industry leaders. For example, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. (CATL) continuously iterates its battery technology, constantly pushing the upper limits of global power battery energy density and building a comprehensive, multi-layered technological moat.
The biomedical track also sees abundant innovation results, with numerous companies using independent R&D to address critical clinical needs and fill industry gaps. A typical example is Shenzhen Mindray Bio-Medical Electronics Co., Ltd. The performance of its core products, such as patient monitors and in-vitro diagnostics, rivals international first-tier brands. These products are exported to over 190 countries and regions, breaking the long-standing monopoly of foreign brands. Behind these continuous hardcore technological breakthroughs is the long-term support from consistently increasing R&D investment and a pool of high-quality talent. Data shows that the ChiNext board currently has a R&D team of over 600,000 people, with an average of more than 430 R&D personnel and about 235 patents per company. "Our company listed on the ChiNext board in 2022. Our employee count has grown from over 600 before listing to nearly 1,500 now, with R&D personnel consistently making up over 70% of the workforce. This has effectively addressed the shortage of high-end talent in the EDA industry, providing solid talent support for our long-term technological breakthroughs," said Song Chulin, Vice President and Board Secretary of Beijing Huada Jiutian Technology Co., Ltd. (Empyrean Technology).
"If a company can continuously invest in R&D, steadily convert technological achievements into profits, and consistently reward shareholders, the market will not just give it a cyclical valuation. Instead, it will add a premium for 'safety, scarcity, and strategic importance.' This is precisely the most important micro-foundation for the revaluation of Chinese assets," said Cheng Fengchao, member of the Academic Advisory Committee of the China Association for Public Companies and President of the Zhongguancun Guorui Financial and Industrial Development Research Association.
Model Iteration Breaks New Ground, Activating Growth Momentum
Innovation goes beyond technological breakthroughs; it also involves the reconstruction of development models. Many ChiNext companies are breaking free from traditional path dependencies, boldly innovating in their business, operational, and service models, using "model change" to drive the optimization and upgrade of the industrial ecosystem. From a business model perspective, Empyrean Technology is quite representative. This company has moved beyond the traditional single-tool sales model of EDA vendors. Leveraging its advantages in self-developed full-process toolchains for analog, digital, and flat panel display fields, it has built an integrated development system of "tools + IP + process collaboration + customized technical services." By deeply binding with upstream and downstream companies in wafer manufacturing and chip design, it has upgraded from providing single software products to offering comprehensive solutions covering the entire chip R&D cycle. Song Chulin stated, "Our company deeply participates in the construction of the domestic EDA ecosystem, carrying out domestic process adaptation and joint research with mainstream domestic wafer fabs. Currently, the company has become a core force supporting the independent controllability of the integrated circuit industry."
From an operational model perspective, the exploration of Shenzhen Inovance Technology Co., Ltd. (Inovance Technology) is noteworthy. The company broke through the traditional integrated operation framework of the manufacturing industry. By spinning off Suzhou Inovance United Power System Co., Ltd. for an independent listing, it restructured its internal organizational structure and operational system, achieving professional independent operation and differentiated development for its business segments. From a service model perspective, Centre Testing International Group Co., Ltd. (CTI) broke the traditional service model in the third-party testing industry, which simply provided testing and certification. Relying on digital and AI technologies, it restructured its operations and service systems, building new operational frameworks like real-time equipment monitoring, intelligent auditing, and digital lab management. Using AI to empower the entire testing process, it effectively optimized testing accuracy, operational efficiency, and service response. Simultaneously, the company stepped out of regional service limitations, continuously improved its global network layout, strengthened cross-border business collaboration, and, relying on comprehensive international mutual recognition qualifications, upgraded its single testing service into a cross-regional, integrated, globally accepted comprehensive solution.
The 1,400 innovative possibilities of the ChiNext board are full of vitality and extensibility. These unconventional attempts not only open up differentiated growth tracks for the companies themselves but also leverage their strengths to drive the collaborative upgrade of the upstream and downstream industrial ecosystem, allowing innovation to permeate every link of industrial development, not just the technical level.
Scale Aggregation Leap Showcases the Board's Core Strength
The convergence of 1,400 innovative possibilities on the same capital fertile ground releases energy that far exceeds the boundaries of individual companies, creating a "scale effect of innovation." From the industrial landscape to market capitalization, from operational performance to innovation investment, and then to market returns, the ChiNext board proves with a set of data that "1,400" is not a simple addition of numbers but a qualitative starting point for innovation density and synergy. Looking at industry concentration, the five core industries—new-generation information technology, new energy, new materials, high-end equipment manufacturing, and biomedicine—have taken deep root on the ChiNext board, accounting for approximately 74% of the total market value. Leading companies like CATL, Mindray Medical, and Inovance Technology have not only grown into "big trees" themselves but also drive collaborative innovation among upstream and downstream companies, forming an industrial ecosystem where "leading geese guide the flock."
Examining the growth performance, in the year of its launch, no ChiNext company had annual revenue exceeding 20 billion yuan or net profit attributable to the parent company exceeding 3 billion yuan. By 2025, 413 ChiNext companies had annual revenue exceeding 20 billion yuan, and 177 companies had annual net profit exceeding 3 billion yuan. In terms of growth rate, 675 companies achieved revenue doubling after listing, with 114 companies seeing revenue growth of over 10 times; 279 companies achieved net profit doubling after listing, with 43 companies seeing net profit growth of over 10 times. More importantly, the scale increase has not made ChiNext companies forget to give back. Since the board's inception, the cumulative cash dividends distributed by ChiNext companies have exceeded 780 billion yuan, with 610 companies distributing cash dividends exceeding 30% of their total net profit since listing. In the 2025 fiscal year, ChiNext company dividends totaled 147.401 billion yuan, a record high. Fu Yifu, a special researcher at Suning Bank, believes that the dual drive of dividends and share buybacks is not only a response to investor trust but also a sign of the company's confidence in its own value. This is inseparable from the flexible and inclusive institutional design of the ChiNext board. From the diversified listing standards under the registration system to the shelf registration for refinancing and new M&A policies, and the continuous optimization of equity incentives, the institutional inclusiveness allows companies to "run long distances" according to their own pace and also "feed back" to the market at the right time.
The assembly of 1,400 companies is not just a milestone in the scale of the ChiNext board but also a sign of the maturation of its innovation ecosystem. They interpret innovation not only as a breakthrough in technology and model but also as a commitment to the market and investors, through their diverse and collaborative industrial landscape, robust growth foundation, and pragmatic actions like dividends and buybacks. This ecosystem, which balances scale and responsibility, is the true foundation of the ChiNext board's hard power and the solid backing for its 1,400 innovative possibilities.
Two-Way Empowerment of Institutions Nurtures the Innovation Ecosystem
Continuous technological breakthroughs build the foundation, while bold model innovations activate momentum. The two forces work in tandem and deeply integrate, jointly giving birth to the diverse high-quality innovation entities of ChiNext companies. The large-scale assembly and high-quality growth of these innovation entities, in turn, drive the innovation and iteration of the ChiNext market itself, forming a virtuous cycle where "enterprise innovation empowers market upgrades, and market upgrades nurture enterprise growth." Looking back at the institutional changes, the ChiNext board was born with the genes of "pioneering" and "reform and innovation." Since its establishment, it has implemented a series of institutional innovations tailored to the development characteristics of innovative growth companies, providing a vast fertile ground for nurturing new productive forces. Upon its launch in October 2009, the ChiNext board pioneered differentiated listing thresholds and simultaneously implemented the first investor suitability management rules in the domestic market. In 2013, it was the first to issue segment-specific information disclosure guidelines, forming a mature system that other boards could reference. In 2014, it introduced a small, fast refinancing mechanism to meet the flexible financing needs of companies. In August 2020, the ChiNext board's registration system reform was implemented, carrying out simultaneous reforms for existing and new stocks, and improving the entire chain of basic systems for issuance, trading, and restructuring, paving the way for the comprehensive registration system.
Looking at the present, reforms continue to deepen. On April 10 this year, with the approval of the State Council, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) officially issued the "Opinions on Deepening the Reform of the ChiNext Board to Better Serve the Development of New Productive Forces" (hereinafter referred to as the "ChiNext Opinions"). This aims to achieve systematic institutional upgrades to better resonate with enterprise innovation. "We are a manufacturing company that relies on technology. Whether it's R&D investment or capacity expansion, we need financial support. Many of the measures in this reform are impressive, especially the introduction of shelf registration for refinancing rules, which allows us to flexibly raise funds based on our own R&D progress and production capacity," said Song Junen, Director, Vice President, and Board Secretary of Inovance Technology. Yu Yang, Board Secretary of Xi'an Sunresin New Materials Co., Ltd., stated that for listed companies, the policy adjustments on listing standards and M&A have enriched the pool of potential M&A targets, helping to promote synergistic development along the company's industrial chain and enhance industry competitiveness.
From the "test field" in 2009, to the "main battlefield" of the registration system reform in 2020, and now to the "new benchmark" of deepening reform with the ChiNext Opinions, the institutional innovation of the ChiNext board has always been aligned with industrial innovation. The innovation potential of 1,400 companies, while superficially reflected in technological and model breakthroughs, is fundamentally a result of institutional inclusiveness. The implementation of the ChiNext Opinions will drive the ChiNext board to use more open standards, more flexible mechanisms, and a better ecosystem to broaden the innovation boundaries and optimize the growth environment for companies. At the same time, it will more precisely focus on early-stage tech and frontier tracks, comprehensively nurturing even more innovation possibilities.
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