Published : 22/07/2025

On July 22, 2019, the first batch of 25 companies on China's STAR Market were listed and began trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, opening a new chapter for China's capital market.

By the close of trading that day, the stock prices of all 25 initial companies had significantly risen, with daily gains exceeding 80% and 16 companies' stock prices increasing by more than 100%.

In January 2019, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) released the implementation opinions, marking the beginning of a gradual exploration of a registration-based IPO system suitable to China's national conditions, starting with the STAR Market.

There are considerable differences between the establishment of the STAR Market and piloting the registration-based system compared to the approval system previously implemented on the main board.

The basic characteristic of the registration-based system is that it centres on information disclosure, requiring securities issuers to disclose company information truthfully, accurately, and completely, so that investors can obtain the necessary information to judge the value of securities and make investment decisions.

The securities regulatory authorities do not make substantive judgments on the quality or price of securities.

The main purpose of establishing the STAR Market is to enhance the inclusiveness of the capital market towards the real economy, better serve enterprises with core technologies, industry leadership, and good development prospects and reputation, and to further improve the capital formation mechanism supporting innovation through reform.

Compared to the main board and the Growth Enterprise Market, the STAR Market aims to address the shortcomings in the capital market's service for tech innovation, focusing on innovative enterprises.

It is reported that the first batch of 25 listed companies are all enterprises with a certain level of innovation capacity and expertise in their respective fields in China.

At the listing ceremony for the first batch of companies on the STAR Market, then CSRC Vice Chairman Li Chao (李超) stated that the establishment of the STAR Market and the pilot of the registration-based system carry the mission of leading the transformation of economic development towards innovation-driven growth and embody the original aspiration of fundamental institutional reform in the capital market.

It has a unique role in further enhancing the functions of the capital market and better serving supply-side structural reform and high-quality development.