A floral installation stands at Beijing Financial Street in Xicheng District, Beijing. The 2026 Annual Conference of the Financial Street Forum opened in Beijing on October 19, 2026. Photo: VCG

Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE) has shown innovation-driven momentum over the past five years since its launch, with more than 3,000 mutual funds holding BSE stocks now as the number of investors grows and trading activity rises, BSE chairman Lu Songbin said on Wednesday at the ongoing Annual Conference of the Financial Street Forum 2026 in Beijing.

Lu said that the BSE is committed to building a main arena for serving innovation-oriented small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), adhering to a distinctive development path, and has preliminarily accumulated practical experience in serving the innovation-driven development of SMEs through capital markets. 

The BSE currently has 351 listed companies, with SMEs accounting for over 70 percent, private enterprises nearly 90 percent, strategic emerging industries over 80 percent, and national-level specialized, sophisticated, distinctive, and innovative "little giant" enterprises exceeding 60 percent. A batch of high-quality enterprises representing the development direction of new quality productive forces have achieved efficient listings, official data showed.

The BSE has also focused on improving market functions that coordinate investment and financing, guiding financial capital to invest early, invest in small enterprises, invest long-term, and invest in hard technologies.

The number of qualified BSE investors has reached nearly 11.7 million, a threefold increase since the market's launch. Over 3,000 mutual funds now hold BSE stocks, the investor structure is gradually improving, and market trading activity is on the rise, Lu said.

This year marks the BSE's fifth anniversary. Its development shows China has formed a multi-tier capital market, with each board given a distinct position, and all channeling capital into the country's high-tech and technological self-sufficiency drive. While the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges take the larger, more mature issuers, the Beijing exchange - a relative newcomer - has used the registration-based listing system to carve out a differentiated path serving innovative SMEs.

Looking ahead, Lu said that the BSE will closely follow the main line of work on preventing risks, strengthening supervision, and promoting high-quality development, actively advance various tasks in market construction, and contribute greater strength to the capital market's efforts in developing the five major aspects of the financial industry.

He pointed to efforts in four areas, including building a high-quality listed company cohort, consolidating a balanced investment and financing development pattern, strengthening the nurturing function of National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ), also known as the "new third board," and establishing in-depth coordination and cooperation mechanisms.

Lu stressed the need to maintain strict supervision and regulation, deepen efforts to prevent fraud and crack down on counterfeiting, strengthen behavioral constraints on "key minorities," strictly combat all types of illegal activities, enhance investor rights protection, and strive to improve the quality of listed companies.

Meanwhile, efforts will be made to enrich market index fund products, advance the launch of the BSE 50 ETF, increase the supply of BSE fund products, continuously diversify market indices, and smooth channels for medium- and long-term funds to enter the market, Lu said.


Global Times