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On December 26, 2019, Shenzhen Stock Exchange ("SZSE") and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the People's Republic of China ("MIIT") signed the Strategic Cooperation Agreement on the Listing Cultivation of High-quality Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and discussed relevant issues such as establishing the listing cultivation mechanism for small and medium-sized enterprises, supporting high-quality small and medium-sized enterprises to enter the capital market and expanding direct financing channels of private enterprises. This is a concrete move by both parties to conscientiously implement the Opinions on Creating A Better Development Environment to Support the Reform and Development of Private Enterprises and the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises issued by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and serve and support the real economy. It will expand direct financing scale and help high-quality small and medium-sized enterprises to become better and stronger by leveraging the capital market. Party Committee member and Vice Minister of MIIT Wang Jiangping, and Deputy Party Secretary, President & CEO Wang Jianjun attended the agreement signing ceremony.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are the mainstay of the national economy and social development and an important force for increasing jobs, improving people's livelihood and promoting startups and innovation. Most of them are private. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, the MIIT has introduced rules and measures, improved the policy system supporting the development of high-quality SMEs, and promoted the establishment of a long-acting mechanism for supporting the sound development of SMEs. It has guided SMEs to take the development path characterized by "specialized, refined, featured and innovative", and mobilized more social capital flow into the equities of SMEs to effectively mitigate the problem that it is difficult and costly to obtain financing.
Committed to services for SMEs and startup and innovation, SZSE has formed a distinct, specialized and efficient financial service ecosystem. It has supported many private, technical and growth-oriented to get listed and become better and stronger, channeled lots of social capital into technologically innovative small and micro enterprises and given full play to the role of financial services in boosting the real economy. As of December 20, 2019, 1,732 companies had been listed on the SME Board and ChiNext Board of SZSE, accounting for 78.62% of all companies listed on SZSE. The funds raised by them totaled RMB 3.3 trillion, more than 80% of which were raised by private enterprises. 6,004 fixed-income products had been listed, with the face value of custody totaling RMB 2.07 trillion. Bond financing of private enterprises reached RMB 732.1 billion. Asset securitization financing reached RMB 504.81 billion, of which RMB 328.78 billion was supply chain asset securitization financing for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.
SZSE and the MIIT have long been cooperating closely to serve SMEs. Since 2002, they have jointly organized nine forums on the financing of SMEs and continuously improved matchmaking services for investment and financing of SMEs. The signing of this agreement is a new starting point for both parties to deepen cooperation. It will allow both parties to functionally complement each other (macro management of SMEs by MIIT and financial service ecosystem of SZSE for SMEs), jointly establish a new mechanism for cultivation services for SMEs, support high-quality SMEs (such as specialized, refined, featured and innovative "little giant" and "individual champion" of manufacturing industry) to enter the capital market and form greater forces to promote SMEs to improve their quality and efficiency, transform and upgrade.
Against the backdrop of comprehensively deepening capital market reform, technology-based SMEs and innovation-driven and growth-oriented private enterprises are embracing a great historic opportunity in exploiting the capital market. SZSE will unswervingly deepen reform, accelerate ChiNext Board reform, adopt the pilot registration system, step up efforts in fostering the market for high-quality SMEs and private enterprises, and enhance exchanges and cooperation with relevant functional departments to better bolster the healthy development of SMEs and private enterprises.
