(CFP Photo)

Jiangsu now boasts 601 enterprises that have gone public domestically as Nanjing Toua Hardware & Tools Co Ltd and Suzhou-based YourBuddy were newly listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on June 8.

Jiangsu had its first public traded company in 1993. Today, the province is home to 12.4% of companies in the A-share market, and their market value amounted to more than 6 trillion yuan, accounting for 7.4% of the total. In 2022, Jiangsu has added 31 new initial public offerings (IPOs), the highest growth in the country.

In the province, Suzhou took the first place with 187 listed companies, followed by Nanjing and Wuxi, with 111 and 105 firms respectively.

Some 480 companies, or 77%, are in the manufacturing industry, a reflection of the province’s economic strength. There are also 59 biomedical firms with a market value of more than one trillion yuan. Among them, the two leading companies - WuXi AppTec and Hengrui Pharmaceuticals - have a combined market value of over 600 billion yuan.

To advance an innovation-driven growth, Jiangsu’s listed companies spent 82.2 billion yuan on R&D in last year. A total of 13 firms including Hengrui Pharmaceuticals, Xuzhou Construction Machinery Group and Nari Technology invested more than one billion yuan for R&D.

The coastal province has seen a steady growth of advanced manufacturing and emerging industries, especially in the fields of high-end equipment, biomedicine, next-generation information technology and new energy vehicles. In 2021, the operating revenue of Jiangsu’s A-share listed companies reached 3.12 trillion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 15.56%.

Data from the Jiangsu Venture Capital Association shows that there were 966 private equity and venture capital fund managers in the province by the end of April 2022.

In addition, the province has 820 enterprises preparing for IPOs, including 685 high-tech enterprises, according to the Jiangsu Local Financial Supervision Bureau.