THE first batch of firms will start trading on the STAR Market, China’s much-anticipated trading venue for science and technology initial public offerings (IPOs), July 22, the Shanghai Stock Exchange said Friday.

As of Thursday last week, 25 companies had received the go-ahead to start trading on the board and they will also debut on the day, the bourse said. It added that it would make preparations to ensure a smooth start.

The STAR Market was officially launched by the China Securities Regulatory Commission on June 13. At that point, Huang Hongyuan, chairman of the Shanghai exchange, said a first batch of companies would start trading on the new market within two months.

Styled after the Nasdaq Stock Market, China’s new tech board is seen as key to keeping the next Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. or Xiaomi Corp. from choosing New York to go public. It’s also a testing ground for a potential new IPO regime: regulators have waived restrictions on how firms are priced when they list, allowed dual-class listings, and offered a more streamlined vetting process.

China must use the tech board to drive reform in the nation’s capital market, Vice Premier Liu He told regulators and global finance professionals at a forum in Shanghai on June 13, urging transparent laws and regulations for the trading venue. Liu also called on policymakers to expand institutional investors’ channels to invest in equities.

The new board is aimed at creating a new fundraising platform for Chinese companies operating in fields such as chip making and biotechnology. More than 100 companies have applied to launch IPOs on the tech board, according to official data.

Qingdao Haier Biomedical Co., Sun Car Insurance Agency Co. and Certusnet Information and Technology Co. have scrapped plans to list in Hong Kong and are expected to debut on the tech board instead.

The first batch of companies to debut on the new board are expected to draw a buying frenzy. Shares of Suzhou HYC Technology, the first company to launch an initial public offering on the board, have been oversubscribed 335.6 times.

“There’s a lot of enthusiasm around the early batch of listings,” said Mark Huang, an analyst at Bright Smart Securities. “The supply is limited at first, so the pent-up demand has resulted in higher-than-expected fundraising targets.” (SD-Agencies)