Securities Times｜The 6th Anniversary of SSE STAR Market: Coordinated Development of Clusters of New Quality Productive Forces

Translated from Securities Times, Zhang Shuxian

On June 13, 2019, at the 11th Lujiazui Forum, the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) officially launched the SSE STAR Market. Over the past six years, the SSE STAR Market has stimulated market vitality with institutional innovation and fed back technological innovation with market vitality, successfully exploring a Chinese path for deep integration of capital markets and technology industries.

As of June 12, 2025, the number of SSE STAR Market-listed companies reached 588, with a total market value exceeding 6.8 trillion yuan. Among them, benefiting from the diversified and inclusive issuance and listing conditions, the SSE STAR Market has 54 unprofitable companies, 8 companies with special shareholding structures, 7 red chip companies, 20 companies listed under the fifth set of standards, and 1 transfer-board listed company.

SSE STAR Market-listed companies all belong to strategic emerging industries and high-tech industries, among which strategic emerging industry companies such as new-generation information technology, biomedicine, and high-end equipment manufacturing account for over 80%.

Specifically, the total number of companies in the integrated circuit sector has reached 119, accounting for half of similar A-share listed companies, covering upstream chip design, midstream wafer foundry, and downstream packaging and testing, forming a development pattern with complete upstream and downstream chains and comprehensive industrial functions. There are 113 listed companies in the biomedical field, focusing on treatment areas such as cancer, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and AIDS. A total of 127 high-end equipment manufacturing companies are listed on the SSE STAR Market, covering advanced process equipment such as industrial machine tools, industrial robots, laser processing, and industrial automation control systems. Their downstream applications span key national economy and livelihood sectors, including rail transit, automobiles, power, aviation, and logistics. A development pattern of collaborative innovation and industrial agglomeration has been established.

According to statistics, in the past six years, SSE STAR Market-listed companies have raised 923.2 billion yuan from IPOs and 183.1 billion yuan from refinancing, totaling more than one trillion yuan. The SSE STAR Market has become the vanguard of capital market services for the development of new quality productive forces.

With the help of capital markets, SSE STAR Market-listed companies continue to lead the market in R&D investment. In 2024, the total R&D investment in the SSE STAR Market reached 168.078 billion yuan, exceeding 2.5 times the net profit and up 6.4% year-on-year. SSE STAR Market-listed companies have achieved a compound growth rate of R&D investment of 10.7% in the past three years, and 107 companies have maintained an R&D intensity exceeding 20% for three consecutive years. By the end of 2024, the SSE STAR Market had gathered 240,000 R&D personnel, accounting for nearly 30% of the total number of employees.

SSE STAR Market-listed companies have also diversified their "going global" strategy. In 2024, SSE STAR Market-listed companies' overseas revenue totaled 430.361 billion yuan, with a year-on-year increase of 6.1%. The overseas revenue of 173 companies increased by more than 30% year on year, and the products of 63 companies were exported to more than 50 countries or regions. High-value-added products are accelerating their penetration into the global market. The median gross profit margin of SSE STAR Market-listed companies' overseas sales has reached 40.8%, and 37 companies' products rank first in the world in terms of shipment volume, market share, sales, and other aspects.

Unlike the primary export model that relies on natural resources or cheap labor, SSE STAR Market-listed companies aim at the upstream of the value chain and use the "hard power" of scientific and technological innovation to redefine the "pricing power" and "voice" in international competition. According to incomplete statistics, 11 innovative drug companies on the SSE STAR Market have granted overseas rights of innovative drugs to foreign companies through external licensing. With the support of product competitiveness and technical strength, by the end of 2024, 58 SSE STAR Market-listed companies had taken the lead or participated in formulating international standards in their respective fields.

The SSE STAR Market's comprehensive index system and ETF product system have played an important role in facilitating the entry of medium- and long-term funds such as insurance and banking sectors into the market, continuously attracting capital inflows into hard technology companies. As of the end of the first quarter of 2025, there were more than 77,000 active accounts of professional institutional investors in the SSE STAR Market, with institutional investors accounting for over 60% of total holdings. The proportion of holdings by overseas professional institutional investors and long-term funds such as social security, insurance, and annuities has increased. At the same time, long-term capital has shown a preference for leading technology companies. According to data disclosed in the first quarter report, 79 SSE STAR Market-listed companies are heavily held by the social security fund, with a total market value of more than 16 billion yuan, of which 30 are STAR 50 Index and STAR 100 Index companies.

Through six years of diligent efforts, the SSE STAR Market has consistently spearheaded institutional innovation, continuously enhancing the inclusiveness and adaptability in serving new quality productive forces, thereby fostering a fertile ground for the growth of hard technology companies. Standing at a new starting point, the SSE STAR Market will continue to deepen reforms, support more technology companies to thrive, promote the continuous advancement of technological innovation, and write a new chapter in the capital market serving the real economy on the journey of Chinese modernization.

The above information is provided for reference purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.