(Yicai) May 14 -- As a key source of potential joiners for the Beijing Stock Exchange, the number of companies listed on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations will exceed 2,000 this year as the city’s over-the-counter market kicks off a third wave of expansion.

Some 226 firms will transfer to the NEEQ’s innovation tier, with 223 of them entering on revenue and net profit for last year averaging CNY407 million and CNY40.2 million (USD56.2 million and USD5.6 million), respectively, the market’s operator announced yesterday. The rest will be included according to the capitalization criteria.

Among the 226, 153 of them meet the financial terms for listing on the BSE, the NEEQ said, with the net profit at over 20 percent of the companies matching the average of those listed on the bourse.

The NEEQ announced two batches transferees to its innovation tier in March and April, with the number entering at 298 when those added yesterday are included. There are 1,931 firms in the innovation tier and 4,207 in the basic tier, according to the NEEQ’s website.

When the BSE opened in September 2021, many of the first businesses to trade on the exchange had migrated over from the NEEQ. Only companies listed on the NEEQ’s innovation tier for 12 months and qualified with certain financial conditions can shift to the BSE.

The NEEQ has less stringent listing rules compared with China’s main stock exchanges.

Some 248 companies are listed on the BSE, with a total market capitalization of CNY339.4 billion (USD46.9 billion) as of today. More than 90 percent were profitable last year, posting combined net profit of CNY12.7 billion (USD1.8 billion) and revenue of CNY173.7 billion, according to the bourse.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Martin Kadiev