New Beijing Bourse Opens for Investor Registration

What’s new: Beijing’s new stock exchange is ready for potential investors to file trading registrations, a step toward the launch of the third national bourse.

The newly planned exchange issued guidelines Friday outlining criteria for qualified participants. Retail investors need to have at least 500,000 yuan ($77,458) in securities assets and investment records of more than two years to access the new marketplace.

The new exchange’s requirements for retail investors are in line with those for the Nasdaq-lie STAR Market in Shanghai. No capital threshold was set for institutional investors.

Securities regulators also released disclosure regulations for the new bourse, seeking public comments.

The background: Chinese President Xi Jinping announced plans to set up a third national stock exchange in Beijing earlier this month to expand financing for innovative small and medium-sized companies. The new exchange is expected to play a role in expanding funding channels for Chinese companies that face growing hurdles to selling shares in the U.S. amid rising tensions.

With registered capital of 1 billion yuan ($155 million), the new bourse is wholly owned by National Equities Exchange and Quotations Co. Ltd. (NEEQ), an over-the-counter stock market.

Quick Takes are condensed versions of China-related stories for fast news you can use. To read the full story in Chinese, click here.

Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simson (bobsimison@caixin.com)

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