BEIJING -- The Beijing Stock Exchange (BSE) has seen more investors open accounts since it started trading in November last year, bringing the total number to over 5.1 million, the exchange said.

The type and structure of funds have been significantly improved, with institutional investors including public offering funds and social security funds actively trading on the exchange, it said.

The total market capitalization of 105 companies listed on the BSE exceeded 190 billion yuan ($27.86 billion), and their net profits increased by over 23 percent year-on-year in 2021.

Data from the bourse also shows that over a half of the listed companies saw their net profits exceed 50 million yuan last year, while the average research and development intensity was 4.7 percent.

In its next step, the exchange will improve the efficiency of listing procedures, increase the number of qualified investors, promote the entry of institutional investors into the market, optimize the trading mechanism, and build a unique product system, it added.

The BSE employs the registration-based initial public offering system, in line with the Nasdaq-style sci-tech innovation board (also known as the STAR market on the Shanghai Stock Exchange) and the tech-heavy ChiNext market on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.