China accepts 62 applications to be listed on new sci-tech board

BEIJING - With five more company listing applications accepted Wednesday by the Shanghai Stock Exchange, China has had 62 companies apply to be listed on the new science and technology innovation board.

The companies have to go through a second stage of audit and inquiry before they can be listed on the sci-tech board.

In the second stage, they mush show they comply with listing rules and that there are no flaws in their finances.

Piloting a registration-based IPO system, the new sci-tech board focuses on companies in high-tech and strategically emerging sectors such as new generation information technology, advanced equipment, new materials and energy, environmental protection and biomedicine, according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

The launch of the new board has entered a "sprint" stage, and the technical system is expected to be ready by the end of May, the exchange said earlier this year.

China designed the sci-tech innovation to leverage financial reforms to boost development of high-tech sectors and advance economic transition.