BEIJING, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Companies in new-generation information technology (IT) and biomedicine account for a majority of the applicants for listing on China's new science and technology innovation board, official data showed.
As of Tuesday, the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), where the new board will be launched, had handled applications for an initial public offering (IPO) on the sci-tech board from 90 companies and conducted inquiries on 72 of them, according to an SSE statement.
Of the 90 firms, 32 are in the field of new-generation IT, and 21 are in biomedicine. Another 17 are in the high-end equipment industry, while 10 are in new materials.
The situations of the companies reflect the overall status quo of China's sci-tech innovation enterprises, the statement said.
These firms have unique innovation capability and competitive market advantages, but most are in the stage of following and running in parallel with world industry leaders and few companies are taking the lead or have made breakthroughs in key and core technologies, it noted.
Meanwhile, a vast majority of the applicants invest much more in research and development (R&D) than listed firms on other boards and have promising growth outlook, according to the SSE.
In the 2018 fiscal year, these companies' investment in R&D accounted for 11 percent of their operating revenue on average, even reaching 56 percent at the highest. R&D staff made up 33 percent of their total headcount on average.
The companies' operating revenue recorded an average annual growth of 42 percent, with 22 of them posting a growth of over 50 percent and seven of them seeing their revenue more than double.
Annual net profits of these firms averaged 123 million yuan (about 18.3 million U.S. dollars), with the highest reaching 3.7 billion yuan, according to the SSE.
The sci-tech board, which will pilot a registration-based IPO system, was proposed in November 2018 and approved in January.
Under the current IPO system, new shares are subject to approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission before being listed.
