China’s new Nasdaq-style high-tech board has started taking applications for initial public offerings, with the first group of candidate companies expected to be unveiled later this week.

The Shanghai Stock Exchange on Monday launched a system for securities firms to file applications for listing on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board on behalf of the firms they sponsor. A website dedicated to the board has also come online. Information concerning the status of the applications, specifics about the documents submitted and the results of expert reviews of applications will be made public on the website.

The exchange will decide whether it will accept an IPO application within five working days of receiving it and then publish the details of the application, according to rules the bourse previously released. That means information about the first group of companies applying for listing on the new board might be revealed as early as Friday.

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