We open in Shanghai where trading started today (Monday) on the new Science and Technology Innovation Board, known as the STAR market. The opening of the highly-anticipated market for science and technology companies on the Shanghai Stock Exchange comes less than a year after President Xi Jinping first announced the project. Lin Nan has more from Shanghai.

A milestone in the reform of China's capital market. The country's new Science and Technology Innovation Board starts trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Monday, with the first batch of 25 companies debuting on the board.

LI CHAO, VICE CHAIRMAN CHINA SECURITIES REGULATORY COMMISSION "We will continue to optimize the pilot registration-based initial public offering system, and promote the capital market reform and development. I expect the Shanghai Stock Exchange to implement policies and measures to support development of the new board. And I also expect investors to comply with rules and regulations, and strengthen the awareness of risk prevention. The STAR Market and the pilot registration-based initial public offering system will support China's innovation-driven economic development and the capital market reform."

The first group of listed companies are from the fields of information technology, new materials, high-end equipment manufacturing and biotech. They are aiming to raise 31 billion Yuan, or about 5 billion USD in total.

LIN NAN SHANGHAI "Experts say this could be one of the biggest financial opportunities for investors and high tech companies this year. It is the first submarket of China's capital market to adopt the registration-based IPO system."

Under the original approval system, there were many requirements for listings geared towards traditional business models, for example, a sustained period of profitability. However, many of today's high-tech companies have invested heavily in R&D and marketing, meaning they will only be able to turn a profit at a later stage.

WU BIN, PARTNER APPOTRONICS "Although we are in the leading position in our field, there are many competitors trying to catch up with us. So time is important for us to stay in the lead. Getting listed on the new board has helped us to raise the money very efficiently."

LONG XIAOHUI, CHAIRMAN MICRO-TECH(NANJING) CO., LTD. "We will spend the capital we raised on expanding the manufacturing capacity and R&D. We may build an overseas R&D centre and several domestic R&D centres."

The first batch of companies to debut on the new board are expected to draw a buying frenzy. Shares of some companies have been oversubscribed hundreds of times by investors.

WANG ZHIHUI, ASSISTANT TO CEO HFT INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT CO., LTD. "We cannot judge whether the new board will be successful or not, based on the performance of its first few trading days. And we cannot judge whether a company is innovative by its short-term performance. We need to observe whether it grows with the help of capital, and creates products which will benefit society in the long term."

BROCK SILVERS, MANAGING DIRECTOR KAIYUAN CAPITAL "There's going to be a real benefit for the first wave of companies that list, because there will be an initial burst of enthusiasm and they will find some support. But after that first wave, the only way that enthusiasm maintains itself is if the companies are performing as advertised."

No daily trading limit has been set for these shares for the first five days of trading on the new market. But, the Shanghai Stock Exchange said it would intervene during sharp price movements during those first five days. Lin Nan, CGTN, Shanghai.