CRI听力: GEM Market Listing Application Starts

The China Securities Regulatory Commission, or CSRC, has started accepting listing applications for the new Growth Enterprise Market Some experts believe the GEM will offer more opportunities for many small and medium-sized enterprises.

Our reporter Li Dong has the details.

Reporter: Unlike the main board, the Chinese NASDAQ-style Growth Enterprise Market will mainly focus on companies that specialize in fields such as new services, new energies, new materials, technology innovations and other new business models.(www.hXen.com)

Financing has long been a problem for the development of many small and medium sized enterprises.

Wu Xiaoqiu, director of the Finance and Securities Research Institute at Renmin University, says the GEM market has come along at the right time.

"China's economy is now entering a revival phase. Small and medium-sized enterprises play an important role during this phase. Establishing the GEM market will give a new dynamic to the growth of these enterprises."

More than 100 companies submitted GEM-listing applications on the first day they were accepted.

But because the verification process will take time, investors must wait for about two to three months before the GEM officially starts to operate.

GEM investors are required to have at least two years of securities exchange experience.

Most investors are cautious about the coming of the GEM. The latest statistics indicate that they opened fewer than 100 thousand GEM accounts in the past week. But the number of new accounts for the A-share market reached 400 thousand during the same time.

"So far, I haven't opened an account specifically for the GEM market. I may consider opening one when the GEM starts to operate."

Experts say investors are waiting to open accounts because the CSRC has not issued regulations for the GEM. They also say many investors are sticking with the main board because of its good performance recently.

Yin Zhongli, a researcher at the Finance Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, says the GEM could have little impact in influencing the main board.

"The trade volume of the main board exceeds 300 billion yuan every day. Suppose about 100 enterprises are listed on the GEM market. Their total financing volume accounts for only one-fourth of the trade volume of just one company in the A-share market."

The creation of the GEM market has been 10 years in the making.

Li Dong, CRI News.