Shanghai rolls out measures to bolster equity investment and tech innovation amid economic headwinds

Equity investments play critical role of promoting the formation of innovative capital, raising the proportion of direct financing and supporting technological innovation, Shanghai government says

Shanghai will also tap china’s US$3.8 trillion wealth-management products market by encouraging commercial banks to set up such units in the city

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The Lujiazui Financial District in Shanghai. The city has not been immune to a nationwide economic slowdown in China triggered by property market woes and an exodus of foreign investment. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 5:01pm, 11 Jan 2024

Shanghai has unveiled a slew of measures to promote equity investment and technological innovation as part of a drive to entrench its status as a financial hub, as it ramps up efforts to reverse sluggish growth and falling foreign direct investments.

It will encourage equity investment firms based in the city to go public in domestic and overseas capital markets by way of initial public offerings or mergers and acquisitions, according to a document put forward by the Shanghai municipal government on Wednesday night.

These firms will also be given priority when selling bonds with maturities of five and 10 years to fund operations, and the local government will study the creation of a guidance fund to invest in early-stage start-ups, it said. The measures will be effective starting February 1.

“Equity investments are playing a critical role of promoting the formation of innovative capital, raising the proportion of direct financing and supporting technology innovation,” the Shanghai government said in the document. “[These steps] will attract more investment firms to start and develop businesses in Shanghai. That is where Shanghai will focus to implement the state’s drive of promoting the intertwined development of Shanghai as both financial and tech innovation centres.”

Shanghai, which has a population of 25 million people and the largest stock exchange in Asia, has not been immune to a nationwide economic slowdown in China triggered by property market woes and an exodus of foreign investment.

It risks lagging behind Hong Kong and other financial centres in the Asia-Pacific region after its economy grew by a mere 0.2 per cent from a year earlier in the third quarter of 2023, and foreign direct investment dropped 1.4 per cent to US$22 billion in the January-to-November period, according to official data.