Foreign investors set to expand A-share play

Although the BSE features vigorous and mushrooming small companies, small-cap companies in the other boards of the A-share market may draw more attention from foreign investors, especially when regulation on technology behemoths may continue to tighten, he said.

Among the first batch of 81 companies listed on the BSE, 87 percent of them are from advanced manufacturing, modern services, high-tech services and strategic emerging industries. Seventeen of the first debutants are "little giants "recognized by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. They are leading SMEs that specialize in niche sectors, command a high market share and boast strong innovative capacity and core technologies.

The companies' average annual R&D investment was 25.3 million yuan in 2020, which was over 4 percent of their average annual sales revenue last year. A-share companies devoted an average 1.92 percent of their annual income to R&D last year.

Robin Xing, chief economist of Morgan Stanley China, agreed that foreign investors may change their investment structure in China.

As the central government attaches greater importance to advanced manufacturing, new energy industrial chains, domestic consumer staples, as well as the self-dependent technology hardware and semiconductor sectors, global capital will enhance their position in these spaces accordingly and reduce their allocations to internet-based platforms, Xing said.