SW. China's Sichuan launches measures to support NEEQ reform

BEIJING, June 24 (Xinhua) --Sichuan Province in southwest China has recently issued the opinions on the implementation of measures to comprehensively deepen reform on National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ), aiming to support listed companies to focus on making their main businesses bigger, stronger and better, reported China News.

The opinions specify that Sichuan will give priority to supporting NEEQ-listed companies when allocatingall kinds of special funds for industrial development and technological transformation budgeted by the municipal and prefecture governments.

In order to improve the quality of NEEQ-listed companies in Sichuan, the opinions propose to support and encourage listed companies to use targeted issuance, self-run issuance, preferred stock and other financing varieties as well as M&A and reorganization means, increase R&D investment and enhance core competitiveness.

Sichuan will encourage eligible listed companies to explore the use of innovation and entrepreneurship corporate bonds, directional issuance of convertible bonds and other bond varieties to expand direct financing channels.

Sichuan will also establish a step-by-step cultivation mechanism for NEEQ-listed companies. According to Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Financial Work, Sichuan will promote eligible listed companies to actively apply for the featured layer and help them to solve the problems encountered in the process of application.

More supports and encouragements will also be given to companies of the featured layer to switch to the Growth Enterprise Market (second board) and the Science and Technology Innovation Board, and a green channel for examination and approval under the framework of laws and regulations on issues related to environmental protection, land, taxation in the process of board-switching will be established, he added.

In addition, Sichuan will work on developing new listing increments and continue to screen, cultivate and report the key backup enterprises of listed companies to promote the steady growth of the number of listed companies in province.   (Edited by Gao Jingyan with Xinhua Silk Road, gaojingyan@xinhua.org)