On April 9, 2019, SZSE's wholly-owned subsidiary Shenzhen Securities Information Co., Ltd. (SSIC) launched the Greater Bay Area Innovation 100 Index (GBA Innovation 100 for short, code: 980001) jointly with the CCID Research Institute of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on the ceremony of the 7th China Information Technology Expo, marking the official launch of GBA indexes. As a measure to implement the requirements of the GBA Development Plan, this index is designed to release the potential of capital markets in serving the real economy and ultimately promote high quality development of the GBA. The index was launched in the presence of MIIT Deputy Minister Wang Zhijun, Vice Governor of Guangdong Province Qin Weizhong, Mayor of Shenzhen Chen Rugui and Chairman of SZSE Wu Lijun.

On the same day, the GBA Composite Index (code: 980003) was also launched. SSIC and the CCID Research Institute will continue their work on GBA indexes to further enrich the index portfolio with more theme indexes.

In the booming capital market of the GBA, there were over 750 mainland-listed companies and companies in southbound trading of stock connect as of the end of March 2019, with an aggregate market value of nearly CNY27 trillion. Listed companies in the GBA feature solid overall strength, strong engagement in emerging industries, mature industrial systems and obvious cluster advantages. The GBA indexes includes stocks publicly traded in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges, involved in the stock connect mechanism and of listed companies registered or headquartered in the GBA. As a flagship index of the GBA series, GBA Innovation 100 selected 100 sample stocks of companies in advanced manufacturing, strategic emerging industries, modern services and marine industries, after fully considering the creativity assessment of listed companies by the CCID Research Institute, and market value, market position and business reach of these companies. There are fifty SZSE-traded stocks and thirty-eight information technology stocks (accounting for more than 25%). The index includes a range of influential stocks like Tencent Holdings, Ping An, Gree and Midea Group. The GBA Composite Index took all stocks in the range as sample stocks.

The GBA indexes reflect the innovative development route and unique advantages and features of the GBA. They prove large room for growth and great investment value, giving investors a new opportunity to share the development gains of the GBA. Over the period from the end of June 2017 to the end of March 2019, the GBA Innovation 100 achieved an accumulative return rate of 17.4%, and the GBA Composite Index scored 10.4% while the figures for HuShen 300 Index and Hang Seng Index over the same period are respectively 5.6% and 12.8%.

With a permanent commitment to serving innovative tech firms, private and growing companies, SZSE has become a pivotal platform for implementing national strategies like innovation-driven development, said relevant officials from SZSE. At present, more than 70% of the 2150+ SZSE market-listed companies are in the high-tech industry and the proportions of high-tech and strategic emerging companies are increasing. Meanwhile, SZSE is home to 458 listed GBA companies, making it the major listing exchange in this area. The GBA indexes include a range of outstanding innovative listed companies and therefore play a vital role in setting up innovation benchmarks for GBA companies, shaping the GBA into an international technology and innovation center and enhancing the ability of the financial sector in serving the real economy. SZSE encourages fund companies to launch products tracking the GBA indexes in a way to facilitate optimized market resources allocation, further promote integration of industry and finance and ultimately serve the opening-up and high quality development of the GBA. Next, SZSE will continue to enhance our ability to serve technological innovation, enrich market product portfolios, push for cross-border financial innovation and take combined measures to support the GBA construction.