Beijing Stock Exchange Photo:Li Hao/GT

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make up more than 80 percent of the companies listed on the Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE), as the bourse focused on advancing inclusive financing over the past three years to provide a new channel for a variety of companies to access the capital market, a BSE official told the Global Times on Monday.

To date, the BSE, together with the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, a national equity trading venue operating in tandem with the BSE, have listed nearly 600 county-level enterprises and more than 200 enterprises from mainly ethnic minority areas, playing an important role in driving the national economic transformation, the industrial upgrading and supporting the job market, the official said.

Launched for trading in November 2021, the BSE is a key component of China's broader initiatives to support SMEs to enhance technological innovation and pursue advanced manufacturing. The official said that the BSE actively fosters SMEs' innovation and expansion, and it supports the public listings of enterprises that lead the development of new quality productive forces.

BSE-listed companies are heavily focused on innovation. More than 90 percent of the companies are high-tech enterprises, while nearly half are called "little giants" - SMEs that are engaged in manufacturing, specialize in niche markets or pursue cutting-edge technologies.

The 254 listed companies on the BSE have raised a total of 53.4 billion yuan ($7.54 billion) to date, according to the official. 

With average financing of about 200 million yuan per company, the exchange has provided capital to numerous small businesses that would have otherwise faced difficulties in accessing traditional financing channels.

The Central Financial Work Conference held in October 2023 emphasized the need for significant efforts in five technology areas - technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance, and digital finance. At this year's two sessions held in March, China emphasized developing new quality productive forces amid the country's accelerated efforts to foster new growth drivers and promote high-quality development.

Specialized and sophisticated SMEs play a critical role in boosting the nation's economic resilience as well as the modernization of industrial and supply chains, and they also serve as a vital force in sparking innovation and improving the industrial ecosystem, the official said.

As a key equity platform supporting innovative SMEs, the BSE is meant to foster the tech innovation and the business expansion of SMEs, the official said.

The Financial Street Forum will be held from October 18 to 20 (Friday to Sunday), to be attended by more than 500 guests from more than 30 countries and regions. The BSE will host a parallel forum on Friday, focused on supporting the growth of innovative SMEs to better serve the development of new quality productive forces.