-- Jianghai Securities Co., Ltd.
On April 10, 2026, with the approval of China’s State Council, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) officially issued the Opinions on Deepening the ChiNext Reform to Better Serve the Development of New Quality Productive Forces. The Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) simultaneously launched a public consultation on four supporting rules. Jianghai Securities observes that this represents the highest-level, most extensive and most impactful systematic institutional upgrade for a core existing A-share market sector since the full implementation of the registration-based system in 2023. It is an institutional restructuring rooted in deepening the comprehensive registration-based system and centered on precisely serving new quality productive forces.
The ChiNext Board serves as a critical financing hub for China's sci-tech innovation enterprises. According to SZSE data cited by Jianghai Securities, as of the end of April 2026, since its launch in 2009, the ChiNext Board has grown into a major market segment with a total market capitalization exceeding 20 trillion yuan and 1,397 listed companies. Among them, high-tech enterprises account for nearly 90%, and strategic emerging industry enterprises make up nearly 70%.
In recent years, ChiNext-listed companies have achieved steady expansion in revenue scale, continuous improvement in profitability, and robust overall performance. As of April 30, 2026, the entire 1397 ChiNext companies had released their 2025 annual reports, recording a combined total operating revenue of 4.56 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.48%; their aggregate net profit reached 259.99 billion yuan, up 21.56% year-on-year. This strong profit growth underscores the remarkable growth resilience of ChiNext-listed companies.
Senior analysts at Jianghai Securities emphasize that this reform optimizes the entire capital chain connecting growing innovative enterprises from research and development (R&D) to industrialization through the improvement of precise institutional supply, while building a market-oriented ecosystem more adaptable to global institutional investors, and achieving a dynamic balance between the financing side and the investment side. This is not a mere rule tweak, but a critical step for China's capital market to advance from "full coverage of the registration-based system" to "high-quality development of the registration-based system", with long-term value far exceeding the scope of policy adjustments for a single sector.
This institutional upgrade of the ChiNext Board is a precise response to the growth patterns of innovative enterprises and core market pain points, Jianghai Securities notes. Among the original three sets of listing standards, the third set had already waived profit requirements for unprofitable enterprises. However, the thresholds of a 5 billion yuan market capitalization and 300 million yuan annual revenue were relatively high for enterprises in sectors such as artificial intelligence, biopharmaceutical, and new consumption. These enterprises typically require large upfront R&D investments and have long profit cycles. Some high-quality enterprises that align with the sector's positioning have chosen to list overseas due to their inability to meet profit or market capitalization requirements in the short term. This reform systematically addresses market demands for improved review efficiency, greater financing flexibility and enhanced risk management tools at the institutional level.
The most iconic breakthrough of this reform is the addition of a fourth set of listing standards with no net profit requirements whatsoever, establishing an inclusive access system featuring a dual-track framework of "growth orientation + R&D orientation". As highlighted by Jianghai Securities, enterprises may apply for listing by meeting either of the following two criteria: first, the high-growth track, requiring an expected market capitalization of no less than 3 billion yuan, operating revenue of no less than 200 million yuan in the most recent year, and a compound annual revenue growth rate of no less than 30% over the past three years; second, the R&D-driven track, requiring an expected market capitalization of no less than 4 billion yuan, operating revenue of no less than 200 million yuan in the most recent year, and cumulative R&D investment of no less than 100 million yuan over the past three years, accounting for no less than 15% of cumulative operating revenue. These standards effectively prioritize scientific and technological attributes and innovation capabilities of prospective listing applicants.
Jianghai Securities assesses that the core of these standards is "precise adaptation" rather than "comprehensive relaxation". Compared with the STAR Market's positioning focusing on hard technologies in bottleneck areas, the fourth set of ChiNext standards further broadens the service scope to include growing enterprises in fields such as new consumption, modern service industries and future industries. This forms a structure of niche development and complementary function with the STAR Market, completing the institutional constitution of China's multi-level capital market. More importantly, alongside the more inclusive access system, strict risk prevention and control mechanisms have been put in place. Unprofitable enterprises will have the letter "U" appended to their stock short names after listing. Simultaneously, information disclosure requirements will be strengthened, the "gatekeeper" responsibilities of intermediaries will be consolidated, and the normalized delisting mechanism will be improved, building a market ecosystem characterized by "easy entry, strict exit and survival of the fittest".
In addition to breakthroughs on the listing access front, another core value of this reform is to open up a full capital service chain covering the entire life cycle of innovative enterprises, Jianghai Securities further notes. Addressing the pain points of innovative enterprises such as long R&D cycles and distinct phased capital needs, the reform has introduced a shelf registration system for refinancing, allowing enterprises to "register once and issue multiple times", which greatly enhances financing flexibility; established an IPO pre-review mechanism to resolve the contradiction between technical confidentiality and information disclosure during the review process for innovative enterprises; optimized the market maker system and trading rules to improve market liquidity for small and medium-cap innovative enterprises; and piloted a local government enterprise information push mechanism to enhance review and registration efficiency without adding new review thresholds.
ChiNext's deepened reform is an important continuation of the institutional opening-up of China's capital market, and a key measure to ensure the capital market truly returns to its original purpose of serving the real economy and scientific and technological innovation. It not only opens up the entire capital empowerment chain for the development of China's new quality productive forces, but also creates a new channel for global capital to share China's innovation growth, and will significantly enhance the investability of A-share innovative assets.
Contact Info:
Name: Junwei Liang
Email: Send Email
Organization: Jianghai Securities Co., Ltd.
Website: https://www.jhzq.com.cn
Release ID: 89190892
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