Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges Announce! Favorable policies for technology-based companies on the Main Board!

The recognition standards for “light assets, high R&D investment” on the main boards of the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges have been finalized!

On March 27, the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges revised and issued the guidelines for stock issuance and listing review - recognition standards for “light assets, high R&D investment” (2026 revision) (referred to as the “Light Assets, High R&D Investment Guidelines”), expanding the applicability of the “light assets, high R&D investment” recognition standards to main board companies. After the revision, main board companies that meet the standards can exceed the limits on refinancing for research and development investments, further enhancing the flexibility of refinancing.

Relevant officials from the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges stated that they will closely focus on better serving technological innovation and the development of new productive forces, supporting more listed companies that meet the “light assets, high R&D investment” recognition standards to actively utilize this policy tool, promoting typical case implementations, and further intensifying efforts to channel resource elements into the field of new productive forces, thereby enhancing the flexibility and convenience of refinancing and effectively improving market satisfaction.

Recognition standards applicable to the Shanghai and Shenzhen main boards

The “14th Five-Year Plan” clearly states the need to “continuously deepen comprehensive reforms in capital market investment and financing, enhancing the inclusiveness and adaptability of capital market systems.” This year’s government work report further emphasizes the normalization of implementing “green channel” mechanisms for financing and mergers and acquisitions for technology enterprises in key core technology fields. The 2026 systematic work meeting of the China Securities Regulatory Commission proposed improving the convenience and flexibility of refinancing.

Against this backdrop, the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges revised and published the “Light Assets, High R&D Investment Guidelines,” adding the recognition standards for “light assets, high R&D investment” to the main board market based on previous pilot programs in the Sci-Tech Innovation Board and the ChiNext.

Specifically, the recognition standard for “light assets” for main board listed companies is that physical assets account for no more than 20% of total assets; the recognition standard for “high R&D investment” is that the average R&D investment over the past three years accounts for no less than 15% of operating income, or that the cumulative R&D investment over the past three years is no less than 300 million yuan and the average R&D investment over the past three years accounts for no less than 5% of operating income.

In recent years, main board companies have actively followed cutting-edge technology research and development, and industries have continuously transformed and upgraded. From the current distribution of industries among main board listed companies, it also involves strategic emerging industries such as next-generation information technology, high-end equipment manufacturing, biomedicine, and new materials, gathering a number of listed companies with core technological capabilities. Such companies typically have a low ratio of fixed assets, a high proportion of intangible assets, ongoing R&D expenditures that significantly exceed the industry average as a proportion of operating income, and their operational development and transformation upgrades are closely related to continuous technological iterations and product innovations, requiring long-term, substantial, and stable financial support to meet R&D needs.

The revision of the “Light Assets, High R&D Investment Guidelines” expands the applicability of the recognition standards to main board companies, responding positively and timely to market demands, which is a key measure to enhance the inclusiveness and adaptability of the refinancing system.

Industry insiders stated that launching main board standards based on the diversification of main board company types, relaxing the limits on the ratio of funds raised for supplementary cash flow, and allowing the excess portion to be directed towards R&D related to the main business will help improve the targeting and effectiveness of fund usage, better serve main board technology enterprises, and promote the coordinated development of traditional industry transformation and the cultivation of new productive forces.

The “Two Innovation Boards” further emphasize the “support for excellence and science” orientation

The recognition standards for “light assets, high R&D investment” had previously been piloted on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board and the ChiNext. On October 11, 2024, the Shanghai Stock Exchange released the “Guidelines for Application of the Issuance and Listing Review Rules No. 6 - Recognition Standards for Light Assets, High R&D Investment (Trial),” establishing the recognition standards for “light assets, high R&D investment” on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board, allowing the portion of refinancing that exceeds 30% to be used for R&D investments related to the main business.

As of now, a total of 14 companies on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board have adopted this standard for refinancing, with a total proposed financing of 35.12 billion yuan, accounting for 37% and 76% of the number of companies and proposed financing amounts accepted by the Sci-Tech Innovation Board in 2025, respectively, covering various listing standards and major industries applicable to the Sci-Tech Innovation Board, among which two companies from the growth segment raised 5.78 billion yuan. Currently, 12 companies have registered and come into effect, and the “light assets, high R&D investment” standard has become an important means for refinancing of listed companies on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board, effectively supporting technology enterprises in increasing R&D investment and promoting technological innovation and the development of new productive forces.

This revision maintains the relevant recognition standards for the Sci-Tech Innovation Board, with the “light assets” recognition standard being the same as that of the main board and ChiNext, but the high R&D investment recognition standard is “the average R&D investment over the past three years accounts for no less than 15% of operating income or the cumulative R&D investment over the past three years is no less than 300 million yuan” and “the proportion of R&D personnel in the total number of employees in the last year is no less than 10%.”

In June 2025, the recognition standards for refinancing “light assets, high R&D investment” on the ChiNext were published and implemented, with companies such as Jiangbolong choosing to apply for refinancing based on the “light assets, high R&D investment” standards, receiving positive feedback from the market. The Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s recent revision adapted the previously published “high R&D investment” recognition standard for the ChiNext, adjusting the lower limit of the R&D investment proportion in the “high R&D investment” recognition standard from 3% to 5% for “cumulative R&D investment over the past three years being no less than 300 million yuan and the average R&D investment over the past three years accounting for no less than 3% of operating income.”

The Shenzhen Stock Exchange stated that moderately raising the recognition index value for “high R&D investment” aims to guide listed companies to increase R&D investment in technological innovation, anchoring on listed companies deeply engaged in R&D and having innovative characteristics, to provide efficient and flexible refinancing mechanisms that support their continuous enhancement of innovative vitality and the formation of a virtuous cycle of innovative development.

(Author: Wang Zhiqiang HF013)

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