China to advance board shift for listed companies on "new third board"

BEIJING - China's two major bourses on Friday announced board-transfer regulations for companies listed on China's National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ), also known as the "new third board."

NEEQ-listed companies will be allowed to be shifted to the sci-tech innovation board of the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange's board of growth enterprises, according to the two bourses.

A company eligible for board transfer needs to be listed continuously on the NEEQ selected layer for more than one year, while fulfilling the positioning and starting conditions of the two boards, said the regulations.

The company should also see a total equity of no less than 30 million yuan (4.64 million U.S. dollars) with at least 1,000 shareholders.

The regulations said that, to improve efficiency, the reviewing period of the board transfer has been reduced to two months from three months for the initial public offering.

An important measure to comprehensively deepen the reform of the "new third board," the board-transfer system will help open up the development channel for the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises and strengthen the connection between multi-level capital markets.