BEIJING — About 70 percent of small and medium-sized enterprises listed on China's National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ), also known as the "new third board," earned profits in 2020.

A total of 6,966 companies that have released annual reports by the end of April registered net profits of 60.82 billion yuan (about $9.4 billion) in 2020, up 7.23 percent from a year earlier.

Among the profit makers, companies in strategic emerging industries saw their net profits surge 55.3 percent year-on-year.

Launched in 2013, the board aims to offer small and medium-sized enterprises a new financing channel with low costs and simple listing procedures.

China has outlined a series of reforms to better orient the NEEQ to the needs and features of small enterprises, and to support the quality growth of the real economy.