Chinese startups flock to OTC equity exchange Fundraising via China's over-the-counter equity exchange has increased tenfold this year, as the platform emerges as an increasingly viable financing channel for companies that might otherwise wait years to list on the main stock exchanges. The number of companies traded on the National Equities Exchange and Quotations has risen from around 350 at the start of the year to 1,271, of which around 80 per cent are high-tech groups. Fundraising totalled Rmb11bn ($1.8bn) as of late October, up from less than Rmb1.1bn in full-year 2013. China's leadership has pledged to increase the role of capital markets in the financial system in order to reduce reliance on large, state-owned banks, which often shy away from lending to smaller companies. Increasing equity finance could also help slow the worrying buildup of Chinese corporate debt since the financial crisis. Following a 14-month freeze in initial public offerings, China's securities regulator announced changes to the IPO system late last year designed to weaken its own grip on the listing process and let investors decide which companies can sell shares. But the reforms were incremental, and nearly 600 applicants are still awaiting approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission to list on the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges. Facing the IPO bottleneck, small and medium-sized enterprises and venture investors are increasingly looking to the NEEQ, modelled after the OTC Bulletin Board in the US, to fill the financing gap. An NEEQ exchange executive said late last month that an additional 3,500 firms are working with securities brokerages towards a listing. For an economy the size of China's, it's not just a few thousand companies that need financing every year. It's more like tens of thousands. But for a lot of startup companies, listing on the main board isn't realistic," says Yan Hong, professor at Shanghai Jiaotong University's Advanced Institute of Finance. Apart from a way to raise capital, the new third board, as it is commonly known, offers a platform for companies to promote themselves to private equity and venture capital investors. By going through this [listing] process, companies are forced to become more transparent and improve corporate governance. They gain exposure," says Alex Zhang, partner and head of mergers and acquisition for law firm White & Case in Shanghai. New third-board rules permit foreign-invested firms to list on the exchange, while foreign investors with access to mainland capital markets via the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) programme are also allowed to invest in listed firms - though analysts say so far few have chosen to do so. For many NEEQ companies, the ultimate goal is a listing in Shenzhen or Shanghai. China's cabinet said last December that firms traded on the NEEQ board can apply directly to the stock exchanges for listing, without seeking regulatory approval. So far around 10 have successfully transferred to the Growth Enterprise Market, Shenzhen's Nasdaq-style board. The number of companies traded on the new third board is fast approaching the combined 2,567 now listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen. But the board remains tiny in terms of fundraising volume. Equity fundraising via the main exchanges totalled Rmb303bn through the first nine months of 2014. Share sales via the new third board are mainly done through private placement and average only about Rmb60m per issuance. Companies that have upgraded to the main exchanges still need CSRC approval if they want to sell new shares, rather than just transferring existing shares to the bigger exchange. But companies already traded on the NEEQ board enjoy faster approvals than those starting from scratch. You don't have to wait in line. It's an excellent shortcut," says Wang Baoxing, chairman of Zhuozhong Capital, which helps firms list on NEEQ.