BEIJING -- China saw breakthroughs in the reform of the Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, also known as the "new third board," with improved ability to serve small businesses and real economy last year.

As of the end of 2021, a total of 6,932 firms were listed on the new third board, including over 1,000 enterprises that met the financial conditions of the Beijing bourse, according to a report released by the BSE.

Since China announced the decision to set up the BSE in September last year, the number of firms that applied for listing on the new third board increased by 46 percent year-on-year, the report noted.

After the debut on Nov 15 last year, a total of 82 firms were listed on the BSE as of the year-end, and 87 percent of them were from the strategic emerging, advanced manufacturing and modern services industries.

The exchange, a platform serving innovation-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises, adopts the registration-based initial public offering system, in line with the Nasdaq-style sci-tech innovation board on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, and the tech-heavy ChiNext market on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.