The number of listed companies on the Science and Technology Innovation Board, or STAR Market of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, has exceeded 400 with increasing global attractiveness, Securities Times reported on Tuesday.

The IPOs raised more than 560 billion yuan ($87.99 billion), with a total market value of nearly 5 trillion yuan so far.

Around 148 out of the 401 listed companies on STAR Market are from the new generation of information technology industry.

Bio-pharmaceutical and high-end equipment grabbed second and third spots on the list of most popular areas for STAR Market-listed companies. The number of companies in these two areas are 86 and 77, respectively.

Listed companies in new materials, new energy as well as energy conservation and environment protection, are 36, 16 and 38, respectively.

The total operating revenue of listed companies on the Science and Technology Innovation Board in 2021 was 818.43 billion yuan, up 36 percent year-on-year.

About 112 companies posted revenue growth of more than 50 percent, and about 90 percent of these companies saw net profits in 2021.

As a market mainly with professional investors, Science and Technology Innovation Board is becoming more favorable among international investors.

By the end of November 2021, 38 foreign institutions had participated in the initial inquiry for the primary market of the Science and Innovation Board, and 29 of them were successfully allocated, with a total allocation amount of 774 million yuan.

The market value of the companies held by foreign investors in the secondary market was 45.7 billion yuan as of Feb 28, 2022.

The STAR Market, opened on July 22, 2019, and designed to support companies in the high-tech and strategic emerging sectors, has eased its listing criteria but adopted higher requirements for information disclosure, according to Xinhua.