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SHANGHAI, July 26-- China's Nasdaq-style sci-tech innovation board, also known as the STAR market, is expected to nurture world-class technology companies in China, considering its astonishing growth in the past year. The STAR market marked its first anniversary on Wednesday, having been inaugurated on July 22 last year. So far, the STAR market has raised about 217.9 billion yuan (about 31 billion U.S. dollars) for 140 listed enterprises. Several leading tech firms, such as SMIC and National Silicon Industry Group, have a market value of about 100 billion yuan. SMIC, China's leading semiconductor manufacturer, was listed on the market on July 16. It obtained approval for its IPO from Chinese regulators in 19 days and entered the board in just 46 days, reflecting the fast-track approach and constant innovations of the board's listing system. On April 30, China's top securities regulator adjusted the threshold for innovative red-chip companies, allowing overseas-listed innovative red chips to apply for domestic listing if they have a capitalization of 20 billion yuan or above and are in possession of self-developed and world-leading technologies as well as innovative strengths. Gao Yonggang, chief financial officer of SMIC, said that, thanks to the policy adjustments, SMIC can return to the A-share market. "We had not met the requirements of the previous threshold, which required capitalization of 200 billion yuan for red-chip companies. The government timely revised the threshold for foreign-listed companies to return to A shares, which paved the way for SMIC to make its debut on the STAR market," said Gao. | 
