CHINA’S securities regulator Thursday greenlighted applications for initial public offerings (IPOs) from seven companies seeking to list on the nation’s planned NASDAQ-style market based in Shenzhen.
The seven firms were given conditional approval to be listed on the Growth Enterprise Market by the China Securities Regulatory Commission after a review meeting. The commission did not elaborate on the conditions.
The meeting was for the first time opened to journalists, who were allowed to watch for about 10 minutes.
The seven enterprises cover the fields of software, medical equipment and medicine. They aim to raise a combined 2.2 billion yuan (US$322 million).
The announcement signaled China is close to launching the long-anticipated new board, which like Wall Street’s NASDAQ aims to help fuel the development of startups and other companies with high growth potential.
The second batch of IPOs were scheduled to be reviewed Friday, and they plan to raise 1.13 billion yuan.
As of Sept. 10, the regulator had received applications from 155 firms seeking to make initial public offerings on the Growth Enterprise Market. It began accepting such requests in July.
It has formally agreed to handle 149 applications from enterprises that aim to raise a combined 33.6 billion yuan.
(Xinhua)