BEIJING - The Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) said Wednesday that it has accepted 37 companies' applications to be listed on China's new science and technology innovation board as of Tuesday.

The companies have to go through the second stage of audit and inquiry before they can successfully be listed on the sci-tech board, the bourse said.

In the second stage, they will come under scrutiny about whether they comply with the listing rules and whether there are flaws in their finances.

Piloting a registration-based IPO system, the new sci-tech board focuses on companies in high-tech and strategically emerging sectors such as new generation information technology, advanced equipment, new materials and energy, environmental protection and biomedicine, according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

The launch of the new board has entered a "sprint" stage, and the technical system is expected to be ready by the end of May, the SSE said earlier this year.

China designed the sci-tech innovation board in a bid to leverage financial reforms to boost the development of high-tech sectors and advance economic transition.