China’s three exchanges — Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing — have unveiled a coordinated package of measures to streamline refinancing for listed companies, a move designed to speed capital to higher-quality and technology-oriented firms while strengthening oversight of fundraising uses. Announced on February 9, the measures focus on three priorities: preferential treatment for market-recognised high-quality issuers, tailored rules for science-and-technology enterprises, and procedural simplifications across underwriting and approvals. Regulators framed the changes as a calibrated effort to “support the best” without loosening the red lines that prevent capital being diverted away from a firm’s core business.
A central feature is faster, differentiated review for companies that demonstrate sound governance, transparent disclosure and clear market recognition. Exchanges will apply “preferential but selective” processing — accelerating approvals for issuers that clear heightened quality thresholds while sticking to the principle of “better the absence than the wrong fit.” At the same time, issuers whose shares have fallen below their IPO price are now explicitly permitted to raise funds via private placements or convertible bonds, but only with strict requirements that proceeds be deployed into main-business activities.
The package contains specific accommodations for “light-asset, high-R&D” firms, an important recognition that many technology companies do not match traditional asset-heavy balance sheets. Shanghai’s exchange has proposed numeric tests: physical assets below 20% of total assets and R&D intensity thresholds such as a three-year average R&D-to-revenue ratio of at least 15%, or cumulative R&D of at least RMB 3 billion with a three-year average ratio above 5%. Exchanges have also proposed shortening waiting periods for fresh fundraising for unprofitable tech issuers when prior funds remain substantially unused or unchanged in purpose.
But the loosening comes with reinforced guardrails. The exchanges stressed tougher disclosure duties for controlling shareholders and intermediaries, tighter scrutiny of “priced” private placements intended to effect control changes, and heavier post-issuance supervision. Draft rule changes remove some prior exemptions and institute penalties for parties that renege on public commitments, while explicitly limiting the share of new proceeds that may be used for debt repayment or working capital in firms already under delisting or risk warnings.
Market participants welcomed the direction but emphasised the balance. Yuan Shuai of the Zhongguancun IoT Industry Alliance described the package as seeking to “activate capital markets to serve the real economy” through differentiated support and flexible regulation, enabling faster funding for research, capacity expansion and second-growth-curve businesses. Independent analysts noted that allowing underperforming stocks to raise funds could prevent promising firms from being starved of capital by short-term price swings, but also increases the need for vigilant supervision to avoid misuse or risky bailouts of weak businesses.
The exchanges signalled they will move quickly to translate the principles into detailed rule amendments and case guidance, following the China Securities Regulatory Commission’s unified deployment. For foreign and domestic investors alike, the reforms aim to improve the allocation of capital toward innovation and higher-productivity companies while trying to preserve investor protections and market integrity — a delicate trade-off that will be closely watched as China seeks to rekindle investment into technology and upgrade its industrial base.