IPOS on STAR

The Shanghai Stock Exchange’s scitech innovation board, commonly known as the STAR Market, has continued to drive the momentum of initial public offerings (IPOS) on the A-share market, according to the consulting firm Ernst & Young.

It is estimated that 120 companies were listed on the A-share market in the January-june period this year, up 88 percent year on year, with total funds rising 132 percent year on year to nearly 140 billion yuan ($19.8 billion).

In the first half of 2020, IPOS on the STAR Market ranked first

and second by deals and proceeds, respectively, among different boards on the A-share market, according to a report released by Ernst & Young on June 23.

Four out of the top 10 IPOS on the A-share market were from the sci-tech and innovation board, raising a total of 13.8 billion yuan ($1.95 billion).

The STAR market was launched in June 2019 in a bid to support companies in the hi-tech and emerging sectors. It aims to ease listing criteria but adopts higher requirements for information disclosure.

The China Macroeconomy Forum (CMF) said in the report that it expects the economy to grow by 2.5 percent, 6.5 percent and 7.5 percent year on year in the second, third and fourth quarters of 2020, respectively.

Upon completing the initial stage of economic recovery by promoting production resumption and restoring the supply side of the economy, China is entering the next stage of pushing demand expansion and lubricating the circular flows of the economy, the CMF report said.

As one of the first economies to contain the epidemic and restart the economy, China’s recovery and re-consolidation of economic foundations has a guiding significance for the world economy, it said.

For 2020, China’s annual GDP growth is likely to reach around 3 percent, the CMF said, citing support from government policies and the