BEIJING - China's National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ), also known as the "new third board," has recorded more than 190 billion yuan (about $28.6 billion) of turnover this year, exceeding last year's total.

By the end of Friday's trading session, total transactions on the board reached 191.25 billion yuan, compared with 191.23 billion yuan for the whole 2016, data from the NEEQ showed.

A total of 2,240 new small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) debuted on the NEEQ this year, while total market value rose to 5.14 trillion yuan from around 4 trillion yuan as of the end of 2016.

In the past week, 49 new SMEs were listed on the NEEQ , and weekly turnover on the board reached 4.37 billion yuan, up 11.17 percent from the previous trading week.

The NEEQ was launched in early 2013 to supplement the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges in serving small and medium-sized enterprises.

It is seen as an easy financing channel for small businesses with low costs and simple listing procedures.