The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges are making coordinated efforts, and the index cluster in the specialized and sophisticated niche sectors is about to debut.
On July 7th, the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) respectively announced that they would jointly launch multiple specialized and sophisticated new-themed indices on July 21st. Among them, the SZSE will introduce the Shenzhen Specialized and Sophisticated New Index and the ChiNext Specialized and Sophisticated New Index; the SSE, in collaboration with China Securities Index Co., Ltd., will launch the SSE STAR Market Specialized and Sophisticated New Index, the SSE Specialized and Sophisticated New Index, and the CSI Specialized and Sophisticated 100 Index.
It is reported that the concentrated debut of this series of indices aims to enrich investment targets in the specialized and sophisticated new field, guide market resources to flow towards innovation-driven enterprises, and contribute to the development of new-quality productivity.
Specialized and sophisticated new enterprises are characterized by specialization, refinement, distinctiveness, and innovation. In particular, the "little giant" enterprises in this category focus on the core areas of the industrial foundation and key links of the industrial chain. They have prominent innovation capabilities and strong control over core technologies, and are important forces in promoting new-type industrialization and developing new-quality productivity.
Data shows that as of the end of June 2025, China has cumulatively cultivated 14,600 "little giant" specialized and sophisticated new enterprises, among which more than 1,000 are listed on the A-share market. Although the average market value of these listed enterprises is about 6.7 billion yuan and the average operating income is about 1.3 billion yuan, their R & D intensity (10.4%), gross profit margin (31.6%), and operating income growth rate (9.8%) are all significantly higher than the A-share average, demonstrating strong innovation vitality and growth potential.
The indices launched this time form a multi-level and multi-dimensional specialized and sophisticated new index matrix covering the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets, each with its own characteristics and complementary to each other.
Specifically, on the SSE side, the SSE STAR Market Specialized and Sophisticated New Index selects 50 "little giant" specialized and sophisticated new enterprise samples from the STAR Market, with an average R & D intensity as high as 21.2%. The market value and R & D expenditure of the samples account for 47.7% and 41.9% of all specialized and sophisticated new securities on the STAR Market respectively, accurately reflecting the innovation characteristics of the STAR Market; the SSE Specialized and Sophisticated New Index covers 100 enterprise samples from the Shanghai market, among which the main board accounts for 25% and the STAR Market accounts for 75%. The total market value of the samples accounts for 54.7% of the specialized and sophisticated new securities on the Shanghai market; the CSI Specialized and Sophisticated 100 Index selects 100 enterprises from the Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing markets, with 41, 48, and 11 samples from the Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing markets respectively. The coverage rates of the market value, operating income, R & D expenditure, and net profit of all specialized and sophisticated new listed companies are 33.0%, 20.9%, 28.8%, and 40.0% respectively, comprehensively presenting the distribution pattern of A-share specialized and sophisticated new enterprises.
On the SZSE side, the Shenzhen Specialized and Sophisticated New Index and the ChiNext Specialized and Sophisticated New Index select 100 enterprises with large market capitalization and good liquidity as samples from the Shenzhen market and the ChiNext market respectively. As of the end of June 2025, the total market values of the two indices reached 1.5 trillion yuan and 1.3 trillion yuan respectively, and the average daily trading volume in the past year exceeded 40 billion yuan for both, indicating sufficient investable capacity and liquidity. Since the base date at the end of 2018, the annualized yields have been 8.3% and 9.8% respectively, both better than the CSI 300 Index (4.4%) during the same period. The weights of the sample companies in strategic emerging industries such as new-generation information technology and new materials account for 86% and 89% respectively. The operating income in 2024 increased by 15% and 14% year-on-year, and the compound growth rate of R & D expenses in the past three years exceeded 19%. Moreover, the proportion of private enterprise samples exceeded 80%, fully reflecting the innovation attributes and the vitality of the private economy.
Market insiders said that the concentrated launch of multiple specialized and sophisticated new indices this time is an important measure for the capital market to play its resource allocation function and serve science and technology finance and inclusive finance. On the one hand, through the clear market representation function of the indices, it provides investors with diversified investment tools, facilitating them to share the growth dividends of specialized and sophisticated new enterprises; on the other hand, it will guide more market resources to flow towards small and medium-sized science and technology innovation enterprises, helping them break through technological bottlenecks and achieve high-quality development.
The Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges said that in the future, they will continue to optimize the index supply system, promote the development of relevant index products, guide long - term capital into the market, cultivate the concepts of long - term investment and value investment, enable the capital market to better empower specialized and sophisticated new enterprises, and provide strong support for the development of new - quality productivity led by scientific and technological innovation.
This article is from Securities Daily, written by Tian Peng and Mao Yirong, and is published by 36Kr with authorization.