Third Board opens doors further

Membership at the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, the so-called Third Board, is set to swell further with listings of some 100 new companies, the Securities Times said on Friday.

The bourse, an equity ex-change for small and medium-sized enterprises, currently has over 356 companies listed on it and over 9.7 billion shares.

Prior to this, membership was restricted to companies from the four high-tech industrial parks in China - Zhongguancun Science Park in Beijing, Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park in Shanghai, Wuhan East Lake High-tech Zone in Hubei province and Binhai New Area in Tianjin.

The State Council, China's cabinet, released a statement earlier this month indicating that micro, small and medium-sized enterprises could all be listed on the third board.