Since the launch of the board, 65 companies have been accepted, five of which are from Suzhou Industrial Park, including Jiangsu Beiren Robotics Systems Co Ltd and He Ship Chip Manufacturing (Suzhou) Co Ltd, the first batch accepted on 22 March. In addition, "B-village" Borui Medicine has also recently submitted its application for listing. The First Financial Reporter recently visited Suzhou Industrial Park to "feel out" the science and innovation enterprises and share with our guests.

　　When you first arrive at the park, the first intuition you have about the park is its vast area. According to official information, SIP covers an administrative area of 278 square kilometres, equivalent to three Gusu districts. It is nearly 20 km and more than half an hour's drive from Suzhou North Station to the International Science and Technology Park of SIP.
　　A PE/VC source close to the park said that he currently understands that there are around 10 to 15 companies in SIP planning to enter the science and technology board, but they are only at the planning stage. "The launch of the Science and Technology Innovation Board is so fast that innovative companies were previously distant to the concept of listing in China, but now they have been brought closer all of a sudden." At the same time, he mentioned that for companies, even a listing is only the beginning of success.
　　However, there are also a number of companies that have chosen to wait and see for a while. The person in charge of an enterprise in the park told reporters that the declaration is expected to take place in the second half of next year, and the company will first have to carry out a shareholding reform before choosing a suitable brokerage firm for itself. The enterprise is also more cautious in the choice of brokerage firms. "Although the head broker claims to have an advantage, we have found that there are many other brokerage firms filing, and in the end, we have to consider the resources of the brokerage team and the support for the company." He said.

　　From "landlord" to "housekeeper"

　　According to Wind statistics, there are currently 110 A-share listed companies in Suzhou.
　　For the Suzhou Industrial Park, which has just been established for nearly 25 years, it is not easy to cultivate a listed company. According to incomplete statistics, there are currently 5,000 science and technology innovative enterprises in the park, of which 21 are listed companies, both domestic and foreign.
　　The arrival of the Science and Technology Innovation Board has undoubtedly brought a hope to the many science and technology innovation enterprises in SIP.
　　At present, Suzhou Industrial Park has built and operated three major industrial parks, including Suzhou Biomedical Industrial Park ("BioBAY"), Suzhou Nano City and Suzhou International Science and Technology Park, which are the main sites for the development of the three emerging industries of biomedicine, nanotechnology and application and artificial intelligence.
　　Apart from providing office space for enterprises, SIP also plays multiple roles.
　　During the visit, this reporter found that in addition to the roadshow centre, a floor is being built within BioBAY to provide branch offices for various industrial funds.
　　According to the relevant staff, this floor of offices is the BioCAPTICAL Business Centre, which is still under preparation and is expected to open in the second half of the year, when several domestic and foreign investment institutions will set up branches in the Business Centre.
　　Apart from helping unlisted companies in the park to seek financing, SIP will also provide follow-up services for listed companies. A source close to the international science and technology park said that there are currently 600 enterprises in the international science and technology park, and five have been cultivated to go public.
　　"Some companies will 'graduate' from the International Science and Technology Park after they go public. SIP will offer new plots of land to these companies that need to expand their footprint. These listed companies will still enjoy the in-depth services of the Science and Technology Park and the park, as well as support in terms of land and other areas." She explains.
　　The innovative company that moved out of the International Science and Technology Park, Zhong Yi Xuchuang (300308.SZ), went public in 2017 through a restructuring. As a member of the "graduates", it was previously listed as Suzhou Xutron Technology Co. The company's founder, Liu Sheng, received his first angel investment fund from the Suzhou Industrial Park with his business plan when he first returned to China.
　　As a representative of the "graduates", CIIXC offers three pieces of advice to the innovative companies still in the park.
　　Firstly, they should keep abreast of industry dynamics and industrial policy trends, relying on the industrial park's advantages in terms of industrial clustering and a relatively mature policy support system, and make adjustments to their business development direction at any time.
　　In addition, we should make full use of the human resources dividend brought about by the construction and development of industrial parks, establish a team of high-level R&D and management personnel, and attract high-quality, young manufacturing and production personnel.
　　Finally, through the various business incubation platforms and venture capital platforms in the industrial park, strategic investment is introduced in conjunction with its own business development needs.
　　At present, in addition to the above five enterprises already accepted by the Shanghai Stock Exchange, according to public information, Suzhou Industrial Park Lingzhi Software Company Limited has also entered the counselling stage of listing, with the target listing board being the science and technology innovation board.
　　The First Financial Reporter also learnt from informed sources that a data company in the park, which withdrew its material from the GEM recently, is also interested in "re-filling its ambition" to run for the board.

　　Biomedical companies' thoughts

　　BioBAY is home to more than 430 innovative companies, covering three major areas: new drug creation, high-end medical devices and biotechnology. Among them, five enterprises have landed on the overseas capital market, and another 20 enterprises have completed their share reform or are preparing for listing.
　　According to BioBAY's relevant staff, 29 innovative biopharmaceutical enterprises in the park are eligible for listing on the green channel of the HKEx's revenue-free biopharmaceutical enterprises, and eight more will meet the conditions within three years. In addition to Xinda Bio and Keystone Pharmaceuticals, which have already landed on the HKEx, Asheng Pharmaceuticals has submitted an application for IPO on the HKEx.
　　A source close to BioBAY told reporters that, in addition to Borui Pharmaceutical, which has already been accepted by the SSE, there is another medical device innovation company that will soon submit a prospectus to the KSE.
　　Yu Qiang, CEO of CGeneTech (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. from BioBAY, believes that the Science and Technology Venture Board wants to be China's Nasdaq, which is a very good initial idea. "Innovative companies inherently have the attributes of long cycles, high risks and high returns. This is especially true for biopharmaceutical companies. From the perspective of encouraging the development of innovative drugs, with the financial support, companies complete a closed loop of innovative drug development. In this way, the national initiative of new drug creation, which safeguards people's livelihood, can be implemented smoothly after substantial reforms of policies and talents have been carried out gradually."
　　Yu Qiang recalls an interview in 2012, when he was still expecting when Chinese capital would play a round dance with entrepreneurs. At that time, new drug research and development still needed domestic pharmaceutical companies to take on some of the task of taking over the reins.
　　Yu Qiang's assessment of the Science and Technology Innovation Board is that it is fast, flexible in policy and accurate in its positioning. "The policies developed by financial professionals are still well thought out, especially for the current situation in China." He said.
　　As the leader of a pharmaceutical company, Yu Qiang also has some advice for the STB. He believes that there are a number of issues that may need to be appropriately adjusted in practice in the future, depending on the situation.
　　"For example, the 5th set of criteria especially for biopharmaceutical companies that are not profitable, the valuation of 4 billion yuan is a problem. The enterprise itself is not profitable and the valuation is instead very high, so there will be a three-fold risk." He said that some companies that are listed to cash in rather than with the primary aim of raising capital for growth will have their valuations inflated and inflated for the sake of listing. In addition, there is a risk that some companies will engage in strong purposeful operations such as mergers that were not needed in order to go public, deviating from the path they should have taken. Finally, Yu Qiang suggested that there is a relatively strict delisting system on the KCI, which in turn creates a contradiction between this and the $4 billion valuation, and presents considerable risks to shareholder investors.
　　He believes that if the above issues can be effectively addressed, the attractiveness and success rate of biopharmaceutical companies on the STB will be substantially increased, which is also in line with the purpose of the establishment of the STB.

Source: First Financial

Author: Yuan Zi Yi Zhang Yuan Ke