New Third Board to divide companies into two markets

The country's securities regulator announced on Friday that China's third national equity market will divide its listed companies into two markets from May, a move aimed at meeting the requirements of small and medium-sized enterprises and to improve efficiency.

The National Equities Exchange and Quotations will separate the companies into innovation market and basic market, according to Zhang Xiaojun, a spokesman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission on Friday.

"The National Equities Exchange and Quotations will continue to study and evaluate the market division systems to perfect the differentiated management on listed companies," said Zhang.