The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) STAR 100 Index, which tracks the performance of companies from China's sci-tech innovation board, known as the STAR Market, officially launched Monday. 

The index selects 100 securities with medium-sized market capitalization and good liquidity, excluding constituents of the STAR 50 Index. The main features of the compilation plan remain consistent with the STAR 50 Index in order to reflect the overall performance of securities with medium-sized market capitalization on the STAR market.

Chen Jiahe, chief investment officer at Novem Arcae Technologies told CGTN he believes that the STAR 100 Index, together with the STAR 50 Index, will better represent the STAR board and bring "more information to investors."

"As a supplement to the STAR 50 Index, the STAR 100 Index contains the smaller companies in the STAR board," said Chen, "so it will be more vivid compared with the STAR 50 Index."

Chen added that the new index will bring more opportunities to startups, and companies operating in the high-tech sector.

More than half of the constituents of the STAR 100 Index are from industries such as biomedicine, high-end equipment, and new materials (with a total weight of 54.1 percent), which well complements the STAR 50 Index, according to the SSE.

The two indices currently track companies that account for up to 66 percent of the total market capitalization of listed firms on the STAR Market. SSE data showed that the STAR 100 Index sample companies' total investment in research and development reached 28.9 billion yuan (about $4 billion) in 2022, accounting for 19 percent of their business revenues. 

(With input from Xinhua, cover via CFP)