At a press conference held by the State Council Information Office on September 10th, Li Chao, Vice Chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, outlined eight key priorities for capital market reform and development during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period. Notably, enhancing the institutional inclusiveness and adaptability of the capital market has been positioned as the top priority. The "15th Five-Year Plan" represents a critical window for China to foster new quality productive forces and drive deep industrial structural upgrades. As the core hub for resource allocation, the capital market's proactive optimization of its institutional framework and enhancement of market adaptability represent an inevitable move to align with the times.
Industry experts interviewed by the Securities Daily generally believe that the optimization and upgrading of the capital market's institutional framework will foster a more inclusive and flexible development environment for various new business formats, models, and industries. Furthermore, the continuous refinement of the institutional system will effectively unblock the virtuous cycle among technological innovation, industrial development, and capital empowerment, streamline the channels for social capital flowing into the tech innovation sector, fully invigorate the financing side of market activity, and improve the investment ecosystem.
Dynamically refining the listing standards system
To enhance the capital market's institutional inclusiveness and adaptability, the primary lever is the continuous optimization of the issuance and listing-related systems to broaden the capital entry points for new quality productive forces. In recent years, the CSRC has leveraged the reform of the "two innovation boards" (STAR Market and ChiNext) as a breakthrough. ChiNext has implemented its fourth set of listing standards, while the STAR Market has reinstated its fifth set, expanding its applicability to frontier areas like AI large models. These measures precisely match the development characteristics of hard-tech and new business model enterprises, significantly boosting the system's adaptability and inclusiveness.
In terms of results, according to Wind data statistics, as of September 11th, 113 new companies have been listed on the A-share market this year. Among them, 109 belong to strategic emerging industries, accounting for a striking 96.46%. These companies span core fields such as new-generation information technology, new materials, and high-end equipment manufacturing, which fully confirms the capital market's role as a vital platform for nurturing and empowering the development of new quality productive forces.
However, it is also crucial to recognize that the current wave of technological revolution and industrial transformation is accelerating. New quality productive forces, guided by innovation, involve emerging industries, future industries, and the transformation of traditional industries. The technological pathways, profit models, and growth cycles of these enterprises vary significantly, placing higher demands on the market's institutional flexibility and service breadth. Against this backdrop, Li Chao stated that during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, the issuance and listing system will be optimized to support the growth of various types of high-quality enterprises from diverse industries, including emerging industries, future industries, transforming traditional industries, modern services, and new consumption sectors. Concurrently, the direction focuses on "dynamically improving the listing standards system and orderly expanding the coverage towards high-quality and innovative enterprises."
Chen Li, Chief Economist at Chuancai Securities, told the Securities Daily that the core of optimizing the issuance and listing system lies in establishing a differentiated and precise market access system that accurately matches the development characteristics and financing needs of various market entities. Enterprises in emerging and future industries can leverage inclusive thresholds to unlock the capitalization pathway for technological achievements. Traditional enterprises undergoing transformation can utilize the capital market to complete technological upgrades. Service and new consumption enterprises can broaden their direct financing channels. As the capital supply for diverse entities continues to expand, this will facilitate the concentration of factors towards new quality productive forces, thereby promoting industrial innovation and iteration.
Li Zhan, Chief Economist at China Merchants Fund Research Department, noted in an interview with the Securities Daily that optimizing the issuance and listing system doesn't mean lowering listing quality. Instead, it shifts from a relatively singular evaluation criterion to a more diversified and precise enterprise value identification system. Li Zhan further explained that growth patterns vary significantly across industries. If identical metrics like revenue, profit, and asset size are used to assess all enterprises, mismatches are likely. Therefore, the differentiated positioning advantages of various board segments within the multi-tiered capital market should be further utilized, and listing standards should be dynamically refined based on industry characteristics. For frontier tech enterprises, greater emphasis can be placed on R&D investment, core technologies, intellectual property, industrialization progress, and market potential. For enterprises transforming within traditional industries, the focus should be on the tangible outcomes of transformation investment, cash flow, competitive advantages, and profitability sustainability. Nevertheless, regardless of the listing standards applied, basic requirements such as financial authenticity, corporate governance, information disclosure, and compliant operations cannot be lowered.
Continuously amplifying the effects of reform
In fact, optimizing the issuance and listing system directly enriches the supply of high-quality tech innovation listings in the A-share market. In Li Zhan's view, the significance of this round of reform isn't merely about allowing more companies to list. It's about enhancing the capital market's ability to identify different types of quality enterprises, enabling capital to enter the technological innovation and industrial upgrading phases earlier and more precisely. This ultimately forms a positive cycle of "tech innovation, capital formation, industrial expansion, and re-innovation," driving the capital market to serve the development of new quality productive forces more effectively.
However, it's important to note that optimizing the issuance and listing system shouldn't be understood purely from the financing side. For the long-term healthy development of the capital market, financing and investment functions are two sides of the same coin. Only when investors can obtain long-term returns commensurate with risks can a stable capital supply be formed, allowing corporate financing functions to be sustained. "Therefore, on one hand, we need to increase the market's tolerance for enterprises at different growth stages, allowing genuinely innovative and growth-potential companies to gain capital support. On the other hand, the earlier the stage of an enterprise and the more uncertain its profit model, the higher the requirements for its information disclosure, risk disclosure, and intermediary gatekeeping should be," Li Zhan said.
Tian Lihui, a Finance Professor at Nankai University, told the Securities Daily that market entry reform is just the starting point. Sustaining the effect requires coordinated efforts across the entire chain. First, the exit mechanism needs to be aligned – the "fundraising, investment, management, and exit" cycle for private equity and venture capital funds must flow smoothly. Second, a long-term capital investment ecosystem needs building, with smoother market access and more robust assessment mechanisms for medium and long-term funds like social security, annuities, and insurance. Third, vertical integration of the multi-tiered market system is necessary, promoting the integrated high-quality development of the Beijing Stock Exchange and the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, along with smoother transfer mechanisms between regional equity markets and national markets, so enterprises can find suitable financing platforms at different growth stages. Fourth, regulatory capacity must be upgraded in tandem, as increased inclusiveness implies greater complexity in review judgments and higher demands on the quality of information disclosure and the professional capabilities of intermediaries.