Shenzhen has outlined a plan to boost the combined market capitalisation of locally listed companies by 40% to RMB 20 trillion ($2.8 trillion) through 2027 by encouraging mergers and acquisitions within the technology industry, reports the South China Morning Post.
The city, home to some of China’s biggest tech companies like Tencent Holdings and Huawei Technologies, also aimed to have 20 listed companies valued above RMB 100 billion by then, according to a document issued by Shenzhen’s municipal government on Wednesday after the market closed. Industry leaders and key listed companies would be encouraged to pursue expansion and innovation through acquisitions along the upstream and downstream chains, including pre-profit companies, it said.
This marked the latest move by Shenzhen to strengthen its position as mainland China’s tech hub by leveraging the capital market. It also reflects a push by local governments to advance the nation’s tech self-sufficiency strategy amid hi-tech curbs by the US, which is purportedly mulling a new round of tech restrictions before a potential meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump by the end of the month.