Doing a good job in science and technology finance is not only the responsibility of the capital market to serve the real economy, but also the inherent requirement of its own high-quality development. The "Implementation Opinions on the "Five Major Articles" of Finance in the Capital Market" (hereinafter referred to as the "Implementation Opinions") issued by the China Securities Regulatory Commission has put forward a series of targeted and specific measures around "strengthening financial services for the entire chain and full life cycle of technology-based enterprises." Among them, supporting the issuance and listing of high-quality technology enterprises ranks an important position.

  Standard diversity and inclusiveness

  The capital market has unique advantages in sharing innovation risks and promoting the formation of innovative capital. Doing a good job in the "five major articles" of finance is not only the responsibility of serving the real economy, but also the inherent requirement of the high-quality development of the capital market itself.

  "Focus on serving scientific and technological innovation and the development of new quality productivity, and enhance the inclusiveness and adaptability of the capital market system. Including: further improving the institutional mechanisms for accurately identifying technology-based enterprises, supporting the listing of high-quality unprofitable technology-based enterprises; improving the information disclosure rules for technology-based enterprises; optimizing the issuance and underwriting mechanism of new shares, and timely expanding the scope of application of the pilot issuance and underwriting system; taking multiple measures to activate the M&A market, optimize the mechanism arrangements for valuation, payment tools, etc. of mergers and acquisitions and restructuring; etc.," Zhou Xiaozhou, spokesperson of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said in response to reporters' questions on the "Implementation Opinions".

  In recent years, the China Securities Regulatory Commission has thoroughly implemented the decisions and deployments of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, and has continued to increase its efforts in doing a good job in the "five major articles" of finance, accelerated the construction of a diversified and inclusive issuance and listing system, further played the role of the capital market, increased support for key areas such as scientific and technological innovation, and served the high-quality development of the economy and society. Since last year, the China Securities Regulatory Commission has focused on doing a good job in science and technology finance, and has successively issued and implemented policy documents such as "Six Technological 16 Articles", "Eight Technological Innovation Board", and "Six Mergers and Acquisitions", and has continuously improved the regulatory system and market ecology that supports science and technology innovation.

  Regarding the series of policies previously issued, the "Implementation Opinions" stated that it will continue to promote the implementation of measures such as the "Sixteen Measures for the Capital Market to Serve the High-level Development of Science and Technology Enterprises" and the "Eight Measures for Deepening the Reform of the Science and Technology Innovation Board to Serve the Development of Scientific and Technological Innovation and New Quality Productivity".

  The innovation of listing standards may break through the previous listing standards with net profit as the core, opening up a listing channel for the science and technology innovation industry with large investment in the early stage. The "Implementation Opinions" clearly stipulate that it will continue to support the issuance and listing of high-quality unprofitable technology-based enterprises, and will also support the issuance and listing of technology-based enterprises that break through key core technologies in new industries, new business forms and new technology fields with greater strength.

  Lou Feipeng, a researcher at China Postal Savings Bank, said: "The stock market attaches more importance to the future profitability of enterprises, and supporting the issuance and listing of high-quality unprofitable technology enterprises is in line with the characteristics of the development of the capital market." At the same time, he also pointed out that the listing of unprofitable enterprises puts higher requirements on investors. Investors need to improve their risk identification and analysis capabilities to adapt to the high uncertainty that such companies may have.

  Supporting the listing of technology-based enterprises is not only an important part of improving the multi-level capital market system, but also a key measure to enhance the capital market's ability to serve the real economy. Tian Lihui, professor of finance at Nankai University, said: "Supporting technology-based enterprises to list will help enrich the participant structure of the capital market, enhance market vitality and innovation capabilities. This will not only provide direct financing channels for technology-based enterprises and reduce their financing costs, but also promote capital flow to high-growth and high-value-added fields and optimize resource allocation efficiency."

  Water the flowers of science and technology

  At present, global scientific and technological innovation has entered a period of intensive activeness. If my country wants to achieve high-level scientific and technological self-reliance, it is necessary to build a capital supply system that matches the needs of scientific and technological innovation. "The capital market can provide continuous financial support for technology-based enterprises through risk sharing and interest sharing mechanisms to accelerate the transformation of scientific and technological achievements. my country's capital market needs institutional adaptation to better cope with global scientific and technological competition." Tian Lihui said.

  Regarding the initial public offering, which is of great concern to the market, the "Implementation Opinions" clearly stated that it will support the issuance and listing of high-quality technology-based enterprises, and list eight key strategic industrial directions - new generation information technology, artificial intelligence, aerospace, new energy, new materials, high-end equipment, biomedicine, and quantum technology.

  "The new generation of information technology, artificial intelligence, etc. are key technologies in the new round of scientific and technological revolution, representing the main direction of future technological development, and it is also an important area for technological competition in various countries around the world, requiring greater financial support." Lou Feipeng said that policy guides social capital to concentrate in strategic industries, which is conducive to accelerating technological breakthroughs and industrial upgrading in related fields.

  A group of "hard technology" companies in the field of key core technology research have successively entered the A-share market. Some of them have achieved technological breakthroughs and leapfrog development after listing, forming an industrial agglomeration effect in the fields of integrated circuits, biomedicine, high-end equipment manufacturing, etc., effectively promoting the deep integration of capital, industry, technology and talents. Zhou Xiaozhou introduced that as of now, the proportion of high-tech enterprises among listed companies on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, the GEM and the Beijing Stock Exchange has exceeded 90%, and the number of listed companies in strategic emerging industries in the entire market accounts for more than half.

  The reporter noticed that while encouraging unlisted high-quality technology companies to enter the A-share market, the regulator specifically expressed its support for overseas listed high-quality technology companies to return to the A-share market. Tian Lihui said: "Companies with plans to list overseas can pay attention to the simplification of the policy process for returning to A-shares; companies that have been listed overseas can evaluate the possibility of secondary listing of A-shares and broaden financing channels."

  Small and medium-sized enterprises are the "new forces" to promote innovation, promote employment and improve people's livelihood, and specialized and innovative enterprises are the "leaders" of small and medium-sized enterprises. The reporter noticed that various places have introduced measures to promote the continuous "drip irrigation" of specialized and new enterprises. Taking Hunan as an example, starting from May 1, 2025, Hunan Province will implement the "Several Regulations on Promoting Financial Support for the Innovation and Development of Technology-based Small and Medium-sized Enterprises in Hunan Province", which clearly proposes to encourage technology-based SMEs to raise funds through initial public offerings, issuance of bonds, and refinancing. In 2023, there will be 7 listed companies in Hunan, including 2 on the Science and Technology Innovation Board. Among them, Caixin Securities recommended Hunan Aerospace Huanyu Communication Technology Co., Ltd. to list on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, raising 894 million yuan. As a national-level specialized and new "little giant" enterprise in the aerospace industry chain and domestic commercial large aircraft industry chain, Aerospace Huanyu's initial public offering raised funds are mainly used for "military and civilian dual-use communications, measurement and control and testing equipment industrialization projects." Industry experts believe that the proportion of technology companies among newly listed companies will be more likely to increase further in the future, and the "technology content" among listed companies will gradually increase in the future, and investors are expected to gain more opportunities to share the growth dividends of technology companies.

  Optimize system rules

  Technology-based enterprises are an important force in promoting the optimization of my country's economic structure and upgrading of industrial structure. Lou Feipeng said that optimizing the rules for listing systems of technology-based enterprises will help guide more funds to invest in the field of science and technology innovation, alleviate the financing difficulties of science and technology innovation enterprises, promote the upgrading and development of the entire industry, and promote the development of new quality productivity.

  The new share issuance and underwriting mechanism will also be further optimized. In June 2024, the China Securities Regulatory Commission proposed in the "Eight Articles of the Science and Technology Innovation Board" to carry out pilot projects to deepen the issuance and underwriting system. The "Implementation Opinions" clearly state that the implementation effect of the Science and Technology Innovation Board's pilot implementation of the issuance and underwriting system will be dynamically evaluated, and the scope of application will be expanded in a timely manner. The reporter learned that the pilot scope may be expanded to the ChiNext or other newly established sectors that meet the conditions. "The optimization of the issuance mechanism and the implementation of the recognition standards will help reduce the space for subjective judgment, make the review process more transparent and fair, and the listing path will be faster and more efficient." Tian Lihui said.

  Technology-based companies with listing needs to choose the right listing sector. Tian Lihui believes: "The Science and Technology Innovation Board is suitable for high-tech enterprises that have core technologies and are in a rapid growth stage but have not yet achieved profitability; the GEM is suitable for growth enterprises with a certain scale and strong profitability; the main board is suitable for large enterprises with mature and stable and good performance; the Beijing Stock Exchange is suitable for enterprises with urgent early financing needs."

  Technology-based enterprises generally have the characteristics of "light assets, high R&D, and long cycle", and traditional credit models are difficult to meet their financing needs. Through tools such as stock issuance and refinancing, the capital market can reduce financing costs for technology-based enterprises and provide financial support throughout the life cycle.

  The refinancing storage shelf issuance system, which was also proposed for the first time in the "Eight Regulations on Science and Technology Innovation Board", is expected to usher in detailed implementation standards. Refinancing storage rack issuance refers to a refinancing system with one registration and multiple issuances. In short, after a securities issuer submits registration to the regulator, he or she can continue issuing securities for a subsequent time without re-submitting the registration. The "Implementation Opinions" clearly state that the "light assets, high R&D investment" certification standards will be implemented and the refinancing storage rack issuance system will be released and implemented.

  In addition, the "Implementation Opinions" clearly state that information disclosure rules for technology-based enterprises will be improved. Lou Feipeng believes that in view of the characteristics of R&D risks and fast technology iteration, technology-based enterprises need to disclose in detail the progress of core technology, competitors, etc. in the prospectus to avoid regulatory risks caused by omission of information. On the one hand, this can improve investor protection, prevent misleading complex technical terms, and form an understandable description of business value; on the other hand, it can better build market trust and reduce regulatory costs during and after the event.

  With the implementation of a series of policy systems, the coordination between investment and financing in the capital market has been significantly enhanced. As expectations of all parties improve, the market gradually forms a virtuous cycle of "investment-return". (Reporter Zhao Dongyu Peng Jiang)

[Editor in charge: Ran Xiaoning]