How many "hard technologies" have been achieved with an average of 152 invention patents per household? More than 260 national level specialized, refined, and innovative enterprises, demonstrating the strength of the Science and Technology Innovation Board

Recently, the Science and Technology Innovation Board celebrated its 4th anniversary of opening. As the first "experimental field" of China's stock issuance registration system reform, the Science and Technology Innovation Board has made supporting and encouraging "hard technology" enterprises to go public as its primary task in the past four years, promoting profound changes in the structure and ecology of the capital market, and also strongly supporting the transformation and upgrading of the real economy.

How can the Science and Technology Innovation Board continue to reform and innovate to promote the development and growth of "hard technology"? The reporter walked into enterprises on the Science and Technology Innovation Board and felt the innovative pulse formed by the virtuous cycle of technology, capital, and industry.

The preferred listing location for "hard technology" enterprises, highlighting the agglomeration and demonstration effects of high-tech industries

"The Science and Technology Innovation Board is the first choice for 'hard technology' companies to go public. Since landing on the board, we have grown with the growth of the board and achieved breakthroughs in multiple core technologies of semiconductor silicon wafers." said the person in charge of Shanghai Silicon Industry Group Co., Ltd.

Semiconductor silicon wafers, as key materials for integrated circuits, have the characteristics of high technical barriers, long research and development cycles, large capital investment, and long downstream verification cycles. Listing on the Science and Technology Innovation Board has brought more funds and market recognition to enterprises. In less than three years, Shanghai Silicon Industry Group Co., Ltd. has turned losses into profits, achieving a net profit of 115 million yuan after deducting non recurring gains and losses in 2022.

"After going public, we continued to raise funds through the Science and Technology Innovation Board, promoting the construction of key production lines and forward-looking technology and product upgrades and research and development." The person in charge introduced that the company was approved for private placement fundraising in 2021 and the first Science and Technology Innovation Bond on the Science and Technology Innovation Board in 2023. The rich equity financing methods increased the inflow of funds, promoting the company to increase research and development investment and attract talent.

In the past four years, a group of enterprises with strong independent innovation capabilities have been listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, continuously demonstrating demonstration effects and attracting more and more enterprises to gather here. For example, the Science and Technology Innovation Board has 111 listed companies in the biopharmaceutical field, making it one of the major global listing places. In the fields of new energy such as photovoltaics and power batteries, as well as high-end equipment such as industrial robots and rail transit equipment, the Science and Technology Innovation Board has also gathered a group of characteristic enterprises.

"From the industry distribution of listed companies on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, the agglomeration effect of the three major industries of new generation information technology, biopharmaceuticals, and high-end equipment is more prominent. There are more than 260 national level specialized, refined, special, and new enterprises, accounting for nearly half, and they are becoming the 'hidden champions' in their respective sub fields." Tian Lihui, Dean of the Financial Development Research Institute of Nankai University, said that the demonstration and scale effect of innovation in the service industry on the Science and Technology Innovation Board is increasingly evident.

In the past four years, the effect of the Science and Technology Innovation Board in guiding capital to invest in the field of scientific and technological innovation has become prominent. According to data from the Shanghai Stock Exchange, as of the end of June 2023, the Science and Technology Innovation Board has accepted a total of 935 companies, listed 542 companies, and raised 847.677 billion yuan in initial financing, accounting for more than 40% of the total domestic A-share financing during the same period, with an average financing amount of 1.567 billion yuan per company. "Supported by the Science and Technology Innovation Board, listed companies have a high intensity of research and development investment, good profitability, and a high growth trend," said Tian Lihui.

In the past three years, the operating revenue scale and net profit compound growth rate of enterprises on the Science and Technology Innovation Board have reached 30% and 59%, respectively, and have delivered impressive performance reports.

Listing conditions are more in line with the laws of technological research and development, helping more innovative enterprises open the door to the capital market

"Thanks to the fifth set of listing standards on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, we, who were in the research and development stage at the time, were able to share the achievements of the registration system reform, accelerate the transformation of scientific research achievements through the assistance of the capital market in advance, and enter the fast lane of high-quality development," said Du Jinhao, Chairman of Shanghai Elis Pharmaceutical Technology Co., Ltd.

There are no requirements for indicators such as "operating income in the past year", "net cash flow generated from operating activities in the past three years", and "net profit", but it is required that "the main business or product has achieved phased results"; For pharmaceutical industry enterprises, it is further required that "at least one core product is approved to conduct phase II clinical trials"... The fifth set of listing standards on the Science and Technology Innovation Board has opened the door to the capital market for innovative biopharmaceutical enterprises like Elis, which are in the research and development stage and have not yet achieved profitability.

"The research and development cycle of new drugs is long and the R&D investment is large. With the support of raised funds, we quickly established a strong marketing network and successfully commercialized the company's national Class I new drug, Vometenib Mesylate Tablets. The company turned losses into profits in the second full accounting year of listing." Du Jinhao said that the diversified and inclusive listing conditions on the Science and Technology Innovation Board are more in line with the laws of scientific and technological research and development, helping more enterprises with strong technological innovation capabilities stand out.

The continuous reform of the Science and Technology Innovation Board has significantly enhanced the inclusiveness of science and technology innovation enterprises. The listing conditions comprehensively consider factors such as expected market value, revenue, net profit, research and development investment, cash flow, etc., allowing eligible unprofitable enterprises, red chip enterprises, and special equity structure enterprises to list. The scope of application of the fifth set of listing standards has been expanded to the high-end medical device field. Over the past four years, more and more science and technology innovation enterprises of different types and stages of development have realized their dream of going public here.

Since the beginning of this year, 7 new unprofitable enterprises have been listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board. Over the past four years, a total of 52 unprofitable enterprises, 6 red chip enterprises, 8 special equity structured enterprises, and 20 fifth tier listed standard enterprises have been listed. These companies, which were originally only able to seek overseas listings, benefited from the inclusiveness of the Science and Technology Innovation Board and successfully achieved domestic listings. It has been proven that after receiving support from the capital market, these enterprises generally have a good development momentum, and 18 unprofitable enterprises that went public have achieved positive net profits before and after deducting non recurring gains and losses.

"The more inclusive issuance and listing standards of the Science and Technology Innovation Board not only provide new channels for public market financing for 'hard technology' enterprises, promote technological breakthroughs and industrial upgrading, but also provide investors with more choices. It also sets an innovation benchmark for more non listed enterprises, stimulating the innovation enthusiasm and vitality of the whole society." Tian Lihui said.

In addition to improving the conditions for diversified and inclusive listing, with the official implementation of the comprehensive stock issuance registration system, the basic systems related to the Science and Technology Innovation Board are gradually optimized, and innovative systems such as refinancing, equity incentives, inquiry transfer, and market makers are gradually improved, further accumulating key resources such as talent and funds to achieve innovative development.

Promote the collaborative innovation and development of the industrial chain, and promote the formation of a virtuous cycle of technology, capital, and industry

A roll of yarn rotates neatly, and strands of raw silk are pulled out to reduce fever... The milky white polyacrylonitrile raw silk undergoes multiple stages of heat treatment, and then undergoes surface treatment, sizing, drying, winding and other processes to become high-strength black graphite fibers on a roll. At the carbon fiber base of Zhongfu Shenying Carbon Fiber Co., Ltd. located in Xining, Qinghai, the production line is fully operational, with an annual production capacity of 25000 tons. The high-performance carbon fibers produced are used in fields such as aerospace, wind turbine blades, and new energy vehicles.

"With the support of the Science and Technology Innovation Board, we have not only taken the lead in building the first domestic production base for high-performance carbon fibers with a capacity of 10000 tons, but also continuously increased innovation investment and broke through new technological bottlenecks in dry spray wet spinning high-performance carbon fibers." According to Jin Liang, the company's secretary of directors, Zhongfu Shenying went public in 2022, and the company's research and development expenses in 2022 reached 155 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 161%, and has accumulated 117 patents.

The Science and Technology Innovation Board is not only a gathering place for "hard technology" enterprises, but also a "deep farmland" for continuous research and innovation. The Shanghai Stock Exchange regards improving the quality of listed companies as a top priority and supports companies on the Science and Technology Innovation Board to use institutional tools such as refinancing, mergers and acquisitions, and equity incentives to become better and stronger. After being listed on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, companies have continued to deepen their main business and maintained a high level of research and development investment. In 2022, the R&D investment of companies on the Science and Technology Innovation Board exceeded 100 billion yuan for the first time, a year-on-year increase of 28%; The average proportion of R&D investment in operating revenue is 16%, an increase of 3 percentage points year-on-year.

The investment in research and development continues to increase, driving the continuous improvement of independent innovation capabilities. In multiple cutting-edge fields of technology, Sci Tech Innovation Board companies anchor international advanced levels, promote key core technology breakthroughs, and accelerate the transformation of innovative achievements. As of the end of last year, on average, each science and technology innovation board company has 152 invention patents, and 90 companies have led or participated in projects that have won national science and technology awards and other awards.

While R&D investment is increasing, the R&D talent team is constantly expanding. High level scientific research talents have become the most important resource for science and technology innovation board companies. At present, the Science and Technology Innovation Board has gathered over 190000 R&D personnel, with over 60% of the founding teams of companies on the board being scientists, engineers, and other scientific research talents or industry experts. On average, R&D personnel account for nearly 30% of the total number of employees in each company.

"In the past four years, the Science and Technology Innovation Board has continuously promoted the formation of a virtuous cycle in technology, capital, and industry." Tian Lihui analyzed that on the one hand, the Science and Technology Innovation Board supports and encourages deep integration of industry, academia, and research. Nearly 40% of companies on the Science and Technology Innovation Board have established industry, academia, and research projects with universities and research institutes; On the other hand, the Science and Technology Innovation Board provides a good exit channel for innovation capital, stimulating the enthusiasm of innovation capital to invest in early, small, and technology. According to data from the Shanghai Stock Exchange, over 90% of companies on the Science and Technology Innovation Board received investment from venture capital institutions before going public, with an average investment of over 500 million yuan per company. The investment amount in the semiconductor and biopharmaceutical fields alone has exceeded 500 billion yuan, a significant increase compared to before the launch of the Science and Technology Innovation Board.

How can the Science and Technology Innovation Board further support technological innovation in the future? "Taking the comprehensive registration system as a guide, optimizing the disclosure of equity incentive information and other systems, improving the efficiency of refinancing and mergers and acquisitions, supporting the listing and development of enterprises that break through key core technologies and possess original leading technologies, and assisting the development of strategic emerging industry clusters and the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries." Qiu Yong, Chairman of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, stated that the Shanghai Stock Exchange will promote collaborative innovation and development of upstream, midstream, and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain through the Science and Technology Innovation Board, opening up the channel from strong technology to strong enterprises, strong industries, and strong economies, forming an inexhaustible driving force for promoting scientific and technological innovation.