This Saturday marks the first anniversary of the Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE). Established on September 3, 2021, the Beijing bourse opened for business on November 15, 2021, and has now become a key listing venue for innovative small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The bourse, which started off with 81 companies, now has a total of 110 companies listed with a combined market value of nearly 200 billion yuan ($29 billion).

SMEs account for 77 percent of listings, and over 80 percent of listed firms are in the strategic emerging sectors and advanced manufacturing industry. 

On top of that, 23 companies are on the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's list of companies regarded as "little giants", defined as SMEs that command high market share, with significant innovation capacities and hold core technologies.

In the first half of 2022, revenue of the listed companies totaled 44.1 billion yuan, jumping 33% year on year, latest BSE data showed. Net profit of these companies surged 19.7% to nearly 4.3 billion yuan. 

As the bourse continued to attract liquidity that facilitates innovation, the number of investors has exceeded 5.1 million, nearly tripling from a year before. 

BSE has also signed strategic cooperation agreements with 26 Chinese provincial governments and 22 municipal governments to jointly support market development.

To better serve the innovation-oriented SMEs and facilitate high-quality growth, the BSE will continue to reform and improve its systems.

Moving forward, the Beijing bourse will soon implement a diversified trading mechanism, encouraging all types of investors to participate in the market. It will also improve its product system and strive to prevent financial risks, an official in charge of the bourse said.

(With input from Xinhua; Cover via CFP)