(Yicai Global) Nov. 11 -- The Beijing Stock Exchange has approved 10 companies to list on the new bourse that is slated to open on Nov. 15, two months after China’s president revealed plans to set up a third stock exchange on the mainland.

The National Equities Exchange and Quotations, an over-the-counter market in Beijing also know as the New Third Board, where the firms approved to list including Henghe Information and Technology were traded, made the announcement late yesterday.

Eight of the 10 will have issue prices much below their closing prices on the NEEQ the day before yesterday, the last trading day. For example, Shandong Hiacent Technology’s initial share price is set at CNY16 (USD2.50), a 36 percent discount on its closing price of CNY25 on the New Third Board.

Two of the firms will list at a premium. Instruments and meter maker Chengdu Zhonghuan Flow Controls will list at CNY13.45 a share, about 20 percent above its NEEQ closing price, while information technology firm Jingsai Technology will join at CNY18.32, or 22 percent over its last price. 

The new exchange will not set any limits on price movements on the first day of trading. But the next 71 companies to move over from the New Third Board will have a single-day limit of 30 percent either way when they debut. 

President Xi Jinping announced in September that China would set up the Beijing Stock Exchange to support the growth of small and medium-sized companies. As the new bourse will mainly serve innovative small firms, it can be regarded as an upgraded version of the New Third Board, which mainly supports businesses in advanced manufacturing and modern services. 

But the positioning of the Beijing Stock Exchange is different from that of Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style Star Market, which focuses on ‘hard technologies,’ and that of Shenzhen’s similar ChiNext board, which supports traditional industries and the integration of new technologies and formats. 

More than 7,300 companies are listed on the New Third Board, with 82 percent on the basic tier, 17 percent on the innovation tier, and 1 percent on the Select Market.

The 10 companies set to list on the Beijing Stock Exchange on Nov. 15 have traded on to list on the innovation tier.

The New Third Board will continue to operate as an independent market and will take stocks that delist from the Beijing bourse. 

Editor: Tom Litting