(Yicai Global) Oct. 24 -- Some 153 companies have gone public on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange so far this year and their combined market capitalization is already more than CNY1 trillion (USD140 billion).

As of last week, the 153 firms raised over CNY170 billion (USD23.4 billion) in their public offerings this year, according to Yicai Global research. Most of them are in emerging industries such as advanced manufacturing, digital economy as well as the green and low-carbon sectors.

Almost 80 percent, at 121, listed on Shenzhen’s Nasdaq-style ChiNext Board. Together they accounted for 85 percent of the total funds raised at CNY147.8 billion (USD20.3 billion).

The 153 firms work in 34 industries, but almost half of them specialize in the four sectors of computer, communication and other electronic equipment manufacturing, special equipment manufacturing, chemical raw materials and chemical products manufacturing. More than half the firms listed on the ChiNext are in these fields.

Over 70 percent were profitable in the first three quarters, according to the earnings reports disclosed by 45 of the companies as of Oct. 21. Seven saw net profit surge by as much as 50 percent. Lithium tech firm Tianli Lithium Energy logged the fastest profit growth, with net profit nearly quadrupling from a year earlier.

The newly listed companies are hiking spending on research and development. The average spend on R&D among the 153 firms in the first half was CNY31 million (USD4.2 million), an increase of 21.8 percent from the same period last year.

Seventeen of them invested more than 10 percent of their revenue in R&D. These include electronic design automation software companies Hangzhou Semitronix Corporation, which spent around 60 percent of its earnings on R&D in the first half, and Empyrean Technology, which invested about 70 percent of its revenue on R&D and now holds 150 invention patents and 67 software copyrights.

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor