Beijing stock exchange runs technical tests ahead of trading by year’s end

China’s newly-established Beijing Stock Exchange is prepping to start trading by the end of the year, having successfully run the first technical test with market players, with the second test planned later this week.

The first of two tests was passed last month, with Beijing aiming to speed up the preparation work and ensure all market participants are ready for the exchange to open as early as the end of the year, The Global Times reported, citing insiders.

The new stock exchange is built on the basis of a selection of firms traded on the New Third Board, China’s over-the-counter (OTC) market in which market participants trade directly between two parties and without a central exchange or broker. The exchange was set up in September with the goal of funding technologically advanced small- and medium-sized businesses. China’s New Third Board accounts for 66 firms with a total value of 849.74 million yuan ($131.4 million).

China’s securities regulator said the new Beijing Stock Exchange will complement two other exchanges, in the business hub of Shanghai and in China’s southern city of Shenzhen.

The next – and presumably final – technical test of the exchange is scheduled for October 9.

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