Chinese mainland equities opened higher on Friday, buoyed by the announcement of a new stock exchange in Beijing on Thursday, with shares for New Third Board, securities and venture capitals leading the gain.

The Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.16 percent in the morning opening. Meanwhile, the Shenzhen Component Index went up by 0.13 percent. The ChiNext index finished up 0.37 percent.

Securities, venture capital shares saw strong gains, with dozens of stocks jumping by their daily limits with Shenwan Hongyuan Securities, Dongxing Securities, Zhongtai Securities, China Galaxy and Citic Construction investment up more than 5 percent.  

Companies listed on China's National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ), also known as the New Third Board were also bolstered by the news.

50 out of the 66 shares in the selection layer of the New Third Board gained more than 9 percent with Wuxin Tunnel Construction up more than 30 percent, BTR New Material Group and Huizhou Huiderui Lithium Battery Technology Co surging more than 20 percent.

A total of 7,304 companies are listed on the board at present and the market capitalization has amounted to about 2 trillion yuan ($309.8 billion).

The rally comes after Chinese President Xi Jinping announced the establishment of a stock exchange in Beijing to serve innovation-oriented SMEs in a speech at the Global Trade in Services Summit 2021 CIFTIS via video link on Thursday and the planned deepened reform of the New Third Board, according to Xinhua.

The deepening reform of the New Third Board and the establishment of the Beijing Stock Exchange in addition to the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges is a strategic move to build a multi-level capital market in China, Yang Delong, chief economist at Shenzhen-based First Seafront Fund Management Co, told the Global Times on Friday. 

"It is of great significance to enhance liquidity, support scientific and technological innovation and China's economic transformation and development," Yang said.