A stock exchange on the Chinese mainland intended to drive funding for innovative small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) is struggling to gain momentum a year after it opened as part of a broader strategy to expand the country’s capital markets.
The Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE), the first bourse based in the capital city, was designed as an incubator for small businesses to tap investors directly for capital and reduce their reliance on banks for funding. Most companies listed on the exchange migrated from the National Equities Exchange and Quotations Co. Ltd. (NEEQ), an over-the-counter marketplace for small firms that do not meet the listing standards for the Shanghai or Shenzhen stock exchanges.