BEIJING — China’s National Equities Exchange and Quotations (NEEQ), also known as the “new third board”, raised 17.415 billion yuan ($2.53 billion) in the first half (H1) of this year.

A total of 364 firms made 369 stocks issuances during this period, data from the NEEQ showed.

Among them, 184 issuances were made by small and micro firms, raising a total of 3.898 billion yuan.

A total of 63 listed firms conducted acquisitions in H1 this year, involving 5.22 billion yuan in transactions.

Eight listed enterprises reported major assets reorganizations during the Jan-June period with a total deal sum of 955 million yuan.

The NEEQ was launched in early 2013 to supplement the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges to serve small and medium-sized enterprises, which functions as an easier financing channel with low costs and simple listing procedures.