China's STAR market paints rosy picture of innovation-powered growth

BEIJING -- Listed firms on China's Nasdaq-style sci-tech innovation board, or the STAR market, expected upbeat performance in 2019 as innovation continued to power their growth, Shanghai Securities News reported Wednesday.

As of Feb 4, a total of 47 STAR market listed firms released their 2019 performance forecasts, among which 34 expected business growth and six reported stable operation, the newspaper said.

The upbeat forecasts were mainly attributed to firms' steadily expanding main businesses as they ramped up efforts on market expansion, product innovation, and research and development in the past year.

With innovation and technology as growth engines, firms listed in the market still have enormous growth potential, the paper noted.

The forecasts came amid a solid expansion of the Chinese economy in 2019, when the world's second-largest economy logged a 6.1-percent year-on-year growth, within the government's annual target of 6 to 6.5 percent.

Launched on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in July 2019, the STAR market was designed to support companies in the high-tech and strategic emerging sectors in a bid to transform the Chinese economy into an innovative one and explore ways to make institutional improvements in the capital market.