National Equities Exchange and Quotations

The National Equities Exchange and Quotations, commonly abbreviated as NEEQ and widely known in China as the New Third Board, is a national over-the-counter equity trading system serving Chinese public limited companies that are not listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange or Shenzhen Stock Exchange. It provides a regulated marketplace through which eligible companies can register and trade shares outside China's principal stock exchanges, giving smaller and developing businesses an additional route to equity financing and public-market participation. NEEQ replaced two earlier over-the-counter trading systems, STAQ and NET, which had operated as predecessors to a unified national market. Its role is distinct from that of the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges: rather than functioning primarily as a venue for the largest established listed companies, NEEQ is designed to support companies that remain outside those exchanges while providing standardized trading, disclosure, registration, and investor-access mechanisms. In this respect, it forms part of China's broader multi-level capital-market architecture. The system has also been associated with the development of differentiated market segments. Its Select Board became the institutional basis for the Beijing Stock Exchange, which was announced by Xi Jinping on September 3, 2021. The Beijing Stock Exchange was established as part of the NEEQ framework, reflecting a policy effort to create a more specialized public market for innovative small and medium-sized enterprises while preserving NEEQ's wider over-the-counter functions. NEEQ's institutional shareholder group includes China's major securities and futures-market infrastructure organizations: the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Shanghai Futures Exchange, China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation, China Financial Futures Exchange, Dalian Commodity Exchange, and Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange. These relationships connect the system with China's broader exchange, clearing, and settlement network. Trading is conducted on weekdays in two sessions, from 09:30 to 11:30 and from 13:00 to 15:00 China Standard Time. The market is closed on weekends and statutory public holidays. Its principal users are companies seeking a regulated share-trading venue below the main-board exchanges, together with investors and securities intermediaries participating in China's over-the-counter equity market. NEEQ's present significance lies both in its direct role as a national trading and quotation platform and in its relationship with the Beijing Stock Exchange within China's tiered equity-market system.

The National Equities Exchange and Quotations developed from China's earlier over-the-counter equity-trading arrangements. Before the creation of a unified national system, two principal trading systems, STAQ and NET, provided venues for shares that were not traded on the Shanghai or Shenzhen stock exchanges. NEEQ replaced those systems and became the national platform associated with the informal Chinese name New Third Board. Its core function is to provide a market for shares of Chinese public limited companies that are not listed on the country's two principal stock exchanges. In contrast with the large-company orientation commonly associated with the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets, NEEQ occupies a lower and more specialized level of China's equity-market structure. It gives eligible companies a formal setting for share quotation and trading, while also supporting disclosure, investor participation, and equity financing. NEEQ operates as part of a wider capital-market ecosystem rather than as an isolated trading venue. Its shareholder group includes the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Shanghai Futures Exchange, China Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation, China Financial Futures Exchange, Dalian Commodity Exchange, and Zhengzhou Commodity Exchange. The participation of these institutions links NEEQ with China's securities-exchange, futures, clearing, and settlement infrastructure. The system later acquired a more differentiated internal structure through the development of market segments, including the NEEQ Select Board. On September 3, 2021, Xi Jinping announced a reform of NEEQ and the creation of the Beijing Stock Exchange. The Beijing Stock Exchange was established as part of the NEEQ system and was based on the former Select Board. This institutional change gave China's smaller and innovative enterprises a more prominent dedicated public-market channel while retaining NEEQ's broader over-the-counter role. NEEQ trading takes place from Monday through Friday in a morning session from 09:30 to 11:30 and an afternoon session from 13:00 to 15:00. The market does not trade on Saturdays, Sundays, or statutory holidays. Its continuing role is to connect non-main-board public companies with a national equity-trading and quotation infrastructure, while its relationship with the Beijing Stock Exchange reflects China's effort to organize equity financing across multiple market levels.

• 2021

  Beijing Stock Exchange announced as part of NEEQ reform

  [1]National Equities Exchange and Quotationsen.wikipedia.org

  Xi Jinping announced the reform of NEEQ and the establishment of the Beijing Stock Exchange. The new exchange was based on the former NEEQ Select Board.

• Formation of a national over-the-counter equity system

  [1]National Equities Exchange and Quotationsen.wikipedia.org

  NEEQ replaced the earlier STAQ and NET trading systems and became the national over-the-counter venue commonly called the New Third Board.

A national over-the-counter equity market for Chinese public limited companies that are not listed on the Shanghai or Shenzhen stock exchanges, with a particular role in supporting smaller and developing enterprises.

• Equity trading platform

  NEEQ over-the-counter equity market

  The core NEEQ market provides quotation and trading infrastructure for shares of Chinese public limited companies that are not listed on the Shanghai or Shenzhen stock exchanges. It serves as a regulated venue for equity trading, market disclosure, and access to capital-market participants below the principal exchange tier.

• Market segment

  NEEQ Select Board

  The Select Board was a differentiated segment within NEEQ and later provided the institutional basis for the Beijing Stock Exchange. Its development reflected an effort to create a more specialized public-market channel for innovative and growing small and medium-sized companies.

• 2021

  Reform NEEQ and establish the Beijing Stock ExchangeStrategy

  Background

  China sought to strengthen the equity-market infrastructure available to innovative small and medium-sized enterprises and to develop a more differentiated multi-level capital market.

  Action taken

  Xi Jinping announced that NEEQ would be reformed and that the Beijing Stock Exchange would be created as part of the NEEQ framework, using the former NEEQ Select Board as its basis.

  Aftermath

  The announcement gave the Beijing Stock Exchange a formal connection to NEEQ and expanded the role of NEEQ's market structure within China's equity-market system.

  Source

1. 1National Equities Exchange and Quotationsen.wikipedia.org
2. 2National Equities Exchange and Quotations official websiteneeq.com.cn
3. 3National Equities Exchange And Quotationswikidata.org
4. 4全国中小企业股份转让系统zh.wikipedia.org