Over the past six years since its launch, the STAR Market has driven institutional reforms in the capital market and technological innovation in tandem—

  The number of listed companies has reached 589, with a total market capitalization exceeding 7 trillion yuan; Over 80% of these companies belong to strategic emerging industries such as next-generation information technology, biopharmaceuticals, and advanced equipment manufacturing; Cumulatively, over 120,000 invention patents have been generated, with an average of 216 invention patents per company...

  On July 22, the STAR Market marked its sixth anniversary since its launch. Over the past six years, institutional reforms in the capital market, technological innovation, and industrial development have deeply interacted and moved in tandem here, focusing on supporting “hard technology” to achieve a “soft landing” and accelerating the development and growth of new productive forces.

Since its inception, the STAR Market's “experimental”position has been to use diverse and inclusive listing standards to help more high-quality technology companies stand out. In 2019, leveraging the pilot reform of the stock issuance registration system, the STAR Market took the lead in supporting the listing of 54 unprofitable companies, 8 companies with special equity structures, and 7 red chip companies.

  “As a company focused on innovative drug research and development in the field of cancer treatment, we have maintained high R&D investments over the long term. However, the transition to profitability takes a long time, and operational performance is highly uncertain, with funding chain issues once posing significant challenges to the company's development,” said Zhu Yi, Chairman of Sichuan Bailitianheng Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., in an interview. Thanks to the STAR Market's support for unprofitable companies to list, the company's innovation and operational performance have continued to improve, enabling it to collaborate with multinational pharmaceutical companies. The company's annual report shows that it achieved profitability for the first time in 2024.

To date, 22 unprofitable companies have achieved profitability after listing on the STAR Market.

  “Pilot” becomes “fertile ground.” In June this year, the China Securities Regulatory Commission issued and implemented the “Opinions on Establishing a Science and Technology Innovation Growth Layer on the STAR Market to Enhance Institutional Inclusiveness and Adaptability,” further adapting to the development patterns of scientific and technological innovation and proposing the establishment of a “growth layer” on the STAR Market. This reform aims to strengthen support for technology-driven companies with significant technological breakthroughs, broad commercial prospects, and substantial ongoing R&D investments, but which are currently still in the unprofitable stage. The approach has shifted from “limited support” to “comprehensive support,” with all existing and newly registered unprofitable listed companies now included in the STAR Market Growth Layer.

  “From the revised ‘Guidelines for Evaluating Sci-Tech Attributes (Trial)’ issued last year, which required companies to have at least seven invention patents applied to their core businesses and added the condition of ‘capable of industrialization,’ to opening up an inclusive development space for unprofitable companies, the STAR Market is continuously building and improving a sci-tech innovation support system that balances ‘selecting quality’ with ‘accommodating long-term cycles.’” Li Ke, Director and Senior Consultant at Beijing Jihui Zhijia Intellectual Property Management Consulting Co., Ltd., stated that this reflects both the internal consistency of the STAR Market's reform and development and the proactive adaptation and enhanced alignment of capital market policies and systems with the evolving landscape of scientific and technological innovation.

  Currently, the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is deepening, and China is vigorously promoting the transition of scientific and technological innovation and achievement transformation from “expanding scale” to “enhancing quality” for high-level development. The leading role of enterprises in scientific and technological innovation has been further strengthened, with the industrialization rate of enterprise invention patents rising from 44.9% in 2020 to 53.3% in 2024, and their “interface” with the capital market has expanded. This has also placed greater demands on the capital market to play its role in promoting the formation of innovative capital and optimizing resource allocation.

  “Over the past six years of development, the STAR Market has continuously explored innovative approaches, providing precise support for high-quality scientific and technological innovation through a flexible yet principled inclusive approach, and offering a controlled ‘testing ground’ for incremental institutional reforms,” said Tian Xuan, Director of the National Institute of Financial Research at Tsinghua University and Deputy Dean of the Peking University School of Economics and Management. He believes that in the future, the STAR Market could enhance institutional supply in areas such as market connectivity, technology value assessment, and capital support. For example, establishing a more scientific evaluation system for scientific and technological achievements, placing greater emphasis on the maturity of patent technologies, market application prospects, and actual industrialization capabilities; improving the error-tolerant mechanism for the conversion of enterprise scientific and technological achievements and cultivating patient capital; and providing diversified financial support to enterprises through multi-level financing tools (such as directed convertible bonds and merger and acquisition funds).

  Today, the clustering of science and technology-based enterprises and their role in accelerating the development of strategic core industries have become a vivid reflection of the STAR Market's operational achievements. According to a responsible official from the Shanghai Stock Exchange, the STAR Market has formed a matrix-style industrial cluster in key industrial chains such as integrated circuits, biopharmaceuticals, and new energy, led by industry-leading enterprises and featuring coordinated development among upstream and downstream companies.

  Looking at the broader picture through the STAR Market, all parties are now more firmly positioned on the innovation and business fundamentals of enterprises, using market-oriented thinking to promote the construction of an excellent innovation environment and business environment. This allows technology-based enterprises with strong intellectual property and market conversion capabilities to gain more development opportunities and establish positive guidance conducive to the healthy development of scientific and technological innovation.