The highly anticipated Nasdaq-style technology board set to launch on the Shanghai Stock Exchange is now going to be available to investors three weeks ahead of schedule. The Shanghai bourse announced that it will be opening the new Star Market technology innovation board to the public on July 22.
The exchange revealed that it has already given 25 tech firms on the board the green light to start trading once the stock goes live. Most of the tech firms on the board will also be making their respective public debuts on the same day as the opening of the stock later this month.
The bourse added that it has already made the necessary preparations to make sure that the launch will go smoothly.
The Shanghai Stock Exchange is expecting a buying frenzy once the first batch of tech firms becomes available to trade on the Star Market. Suzhou HYC Technology, one of the first companies to launch its IPO on the board, was oversubscribed more than 300 times since it was listed.
Last month, the Shanghai bourse announced that it will be implementing a new set of rules specific to the tech innovation board. The exchange explained that it will be setting various limits and suspensions for specific situations depending on the movement of any one particular stock. An example would be a 10-minute trading suspension for any stock that rises or falls by more than 30 percent from its opening price.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission initially unveiled the tech innovation board last month, June 13. During its inauguration, Shanghai Stock Exchange Chairman Huang Hongyuan announced that the first batch of tech companies should start trading within two months.
The move was part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's initiative to bolster domestic tech players by giving them access to more capital through the country's equities market. Xi first announced plans for the Nasdaq-style board in November of last year as a way to spur innovation in the country's tech sector. The platform was specifically intended to support firms involved in industries such as chip-making, software development, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and autonomous driving.
As the ongoing trade dispute between China and the United States escalated into a full-blown tech cold war, China's regulatory commission was pressured into accelerating its plans for the tech innovation board to cushion the effects of the dispute on smaller Chinese tech companies.
The escalation of the dispute back in May had threatened the supply chains of Chinese tech firms that had standing business relationships with US companies. The US and China have since agreed to a ceasefire, following the meeting between Xi and US President Donald Trump at the recently held G20 Summit in Japan.
