SHANGHAI - The municipality's Over-The-Counter (OTC) equity bourse, launched in July 2010 in the city's Zhangjiang Innovation Park (ZIP), is expected to begin operations by September, according to a senior local official.

"We expect that the bourse will not only serve enterprises within Zhangjiang, but also thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises in the Yangtze River Delta region," said Ding Lei, executive vice-director of the administrative committee of ZIP, at a recent rebranding ceremony for the park, a State-level high-tech industrial zone in Shanghai.

The equity exchange, which will mainly serve non-listed companies in the Yangtze River Delta region, has a total registered capital of 80 million yuan ($12.4 million), with Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development Co taking a stake of 20 percent.

Analysts said the OTC will offer a financing channel for small and medium-sized high-tech start-ups, and further standardize their business operations for the future.

Last week, the local Oriental Morning Post reported that "more than 10 enterprises based in Zhangjiang had filed applications to trade in the future Shanghai OTC market".

In addition, ZIP will also soon unveil a series of measures to help boost the municipality's high-tech sector, including offering equity incentives to employees of innovative State enterprises and institutions working inside the park, in a bid to lure more talent and develop Zhangjiang into "the Silicon Valley of China".

Located in the Pudong New Area, ZIP last year realized a combined business revenue of 155.7 billion yuan, a rise of 35.9 percent year-on-year.

The park is famous for its concentration on sectors such as information communication technology and biotechnology. Last year, the 6,400 high-tech companies registered at ZIP realized a combined profit of 27.07 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 140 percent.