The latest interim reports show that over 80% of Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE) companies remained profitable in the first half of this year. On September 2, the BSE marked the fifth anniversary of its announcement. As the primary capital market platform dedicated to serving innovative SMEs, the BSE's developmental achievements and the effectiveness of its dedicated market functions have drawn widespread attention.
The quality of listed companies is the cornerstone of a sustainable exchange. Data shows that as of September 1, the BSE hosts 339 listed companies—more than four times the number at its inception—with total market value expanding from less than 300 billion yuan to roughly 850 billion yuan. Latest mid-year data indicates that over 80% of BSE firms were profitable in the first half of 2025.
"Over the past five years, the BSE has delivered a report card of simultaneous growth in both quantity and quality," said Tian Xuan, Dean of Peking University's Guanghua School of Management. He noted that the number of listed companies and total market value have grown significantly, with over 80% of the 300-plus firms being SMEs and nearly 90% being private enterprises, fully reflecting the exchange's original positioning.
"The pace of expansion over the past five years has broadly aligned with market expectations at each stage," said He Yu, Deputy General Manager of Northeast Securities' Investment Banking Division. He emphasized that the BSE's high-quality expansion is not a mere pursuit of numerical growth but rather relies on the premium SME resources cultivated by the NEEQ (New Third Board), steadily channeling qualified enterprises for listing and achieving "steady progress" in expansion.
Broad participation from trading investors is also a critical factor in the exchange's development. The latest data shows that the BSE now has over 11 million qualified investors—nearly triple the number at its launch—with more than 3,000 public funds participating in market trading. Institutional investors' trading share has risen from 9% at inception to 24%.
Scale Expansion Meets Expectations
According to BSE official data, as of September 1, the market hosts 339 listed companies, more than triple the 81 companies at its November 2021 launch, with total share capital of 46.866 billion shares and total market value of 854.582 billion yuan. In terms of profitability, the 339 BSE companies generated combined revenue of 138.566 billion yuan in the first half, with average revenue of 409 million yuan, up 15.11% year-on-year. Combined net profit reached 11.783 billion yuan, with average net profit of 34.7592 million yuan, up 17.58%. Among them, 282 companies achieved profitability, with the overall profit rate exceeding 80%.
Private SMEs, the BSE's foundational base, have shown robust development momentum. Disclosures show that the BSE hosts 258 SMEs and 293 private enterprises, each accounting for over 70% of the total. Private SME revenue grew 14.92% year-on-year in the first half, an improvement of 7.38 percentage points.
Multiple observers believe the BSE's current market scale and expansion pace are in line with expectations. "The BSE's early expansion was relatively slow, but it has clearly accelerated this year, with more than 50 new companies added and IPO review cycles shortened," said Tian Xuan. He noted that the exchange's scale expansion has balanced the pace of new stock supply with market absorption capacity, avoiding liquidity strain from overly rapid expansion.
Data shows that in the first eight months, 102 new companies were listed on A-shares, with half (53) choosing the BSE. He Yu noted that the BSE has cultivated a batch of industry-leading enterprises concentrated in high-end manufacturing, new energy, new materials, and semiconductors. The exchange's establishment has also provided a clear upward path for NEEQ companies.
Zhu Jieyu, Chief Analyst at Soochow Securities, said the BSE's total number of companies and market value have grown markedly from inception, completing the transition from a fledgling market to a mature SME capital market. "From a supply-side perspective, BSE companies originate from the NEEQ's innovation layer, truly practicing the gradient cultivation logic of 'cultivate one, mature one, list one,' ensuring sufficient growth potential and reserves for future expansion."
As market scale expands, the BSE's participant base is diversifying and its investor ranks are growing. At inception, the BSE had approximately 4 million qualified investors; this has grown by about 7 million over five years. Institutional trading share has risen from 9% to 24%. With the market's growing scale and increasing investor numbers, the liquidity issues that once plagued the market have gradually improved. So far this year, average daily turnover has exceeded 20 billion yuan, with the secondary market's average P/E ratio stabilizing between 30 and 40 times.
In late July, the BSE's public fund product lineup expanded as the first batch of eight three-month holding period BSE theme funds was officially filed, with fund managers including China Asset Management, Harvest Fund, E Fund, and Southern Fund. "The liquidity challenges that long plagued the BSE have been alleviated in stages," said Tian Xuan, adding that market-making and margin trading tools have been implemented, significantly boosting activity among BSE-listed companies compared to their NEEQ basic and innovation layer days.
Institutional Construction Enters Full Implementation Phase
Beyond market performance, the BSE's institutional achievements over five years have also drawn attention. When the BSE was established in September 2021, the capital market's registration system reform was in a critical phase of moving from pilot to full implementation. Tian Xuan believes that the multi-tiered capital market structure has now largely taken shape, with the three boards having clearly defined roles. The BSE is positioned to serve innovative SMEs, providing precise financing services to "specialized, refined, unique, and novel" niche champions.
He also noted that the integrated linkage with the NEEQ is core to the BSE's institutional reform. Currently, the positive cycle of "basic layer for standardized cultivation—innovation layer for deep incubation—BSE for accelerated listing" has formed, along with a more resilient direct financing ecosystem for SMEs. Zhu Jieyu said the BSE's five-year development can be divided into three major phases: the initial landing period in 2021, marked by the exchange's unveiling and 81 first-batch listings; the institutional improvement period from 2022 to 2024, featuring optimized trading mechanisms, investor suitability rules, market-making pilot programs, and product system enrichment; and the current quality upgrade period that began last year, characterized by the full implementation of institutions—including revised trading rules aligned with Shanghai and Shenzhen markets, first private bond listings, and the unified switch to the 920 code segment.
Recently, the BSE's first simplified procedure private placement was completed. Haineng Technology (920476.BJ) announced in early August that its simplified placement had concluded, issuing 4.4059 million shares and raising nearly 89 million yuan. Following the three exchanges' February launch of optimized refinancing measures, a batch of BSE companies have actively embraced the simplified procedure. Zhu Weiyi, Vice President of Huaxing Certified Public Accountants, told investors: "The simplified procedure refinancing is a major highlight for the BSE this year, attracting a number of institutional investors." He Yu added that the simplified refinancing and successful private bond issuance mark the exchange's transition from a pure equity market toward a multi-tiered market with coordinated equity and debt development.
More Policy Dividends Anticipated
Coinciding with the BSE's fifth anniversary, the "Deep Reform 19 Measures" also marks its third year, with multiple expectations for further deepening reform. Market participants highlighted several anticipated reform measures: deepening investment and financing reform, further high-quality expansion, continuing to improve market liquidity, accelerating the launch of three-month holding period funds, introducing related index products, and launching market-value-based IPO subscription mechanisms.
On balancing the investment and financing sides, Tian Xuan believes the financing side should control pace and improve quality, matching differentiated financing tools to innovative SMEs' growth stages and industry characteristics, while improving listing convenience and strictly controlling quality. On the investment side, the focus should be on expanding institutional participation and guiding long-term capital—including public funds, social security, and QFII—into the market, alongside offering diversified trading products like index funds. "Compared to the financing side, the BSE still has more initiatives in preparation on the investment side. We look forward to the exchange attracting more incremental capital and further improving liquidity," said Yu Wei, an expert at the China Xiaokang Society's Economic Development Committee.
On high-quality expansion, Zhu Weiyi said this remains the BSE's critical task: "Only when expansion reaches a certain scale and the pool is large enough can more long-term capital flow in. But expansion must also consider the secondary market's absorption capacity." He Yu believes further expansion has a realistic foundation: "The BSE's current 339 listed companies represent substantial reserve capacity compared to the NEEQ's 5,700-plus listed companies." Tian Xuan added that steady expansion will help boost liquidity: "Liquidity is the result of expansion, not its precondition. Only with enough targets and a sufficiently large market cap can institutional capital from public funds and insurance companies be accommodated."
For further liquidity improvement, He Yu proposed several measures, including optimizing investor suitability management, moderately lowering investment thresholds where risk permits to expand the investor base, vigorously developing index funds, and encouraging more public funds to develop BSE-related products.